Moving Too Fast
by AgentOfAngst
Summary: Wasabi and GoGo are all grown up now, unfortunately, their twins are growing up fast too. When new jobs bring the family back to San Fransokyo Reese and Luca have to learn how to adjust to their new home and Wasabi and GoGo have to worry about their kids growing up in a city they know can be a little dangerous. Multiple Chapters
1. Settling In

**So here I am writing GoGo and Wasabi as parents because I really can't stop myself. I promise I'll do some early parenthood stories eventually, but once the personalities for Reese (female) and Luca (male) jumped out at me I knew I needed them to be at least 12 so here you go, enjoy, review if you liked it, and thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions. Special shout out to TheSparklyKitten whose first fanfiction Heroes of Flowers is a really fun version of Big Hero 6.**

**This is the LATE 2020 update of Moving Too Fast. My first 2020 update goals were to do better at descriptions and foreshadowing. You know you're a good writer when you have to put in your foreshadowing after you have written and published the events that you're foreshadowing, lol. My new update goal is to entirely change the career that I had written for GoGo as Season 3 has given me new ideas. I'll also work on descriptions and foreshadowing some more. Enjoy! Review if this your first time reading!**

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"San Fransokyo is lame!" Reese shouted, slamming the door to the room she shared with her twin brother. Luca looked up from his desk where he was doodling and went to open the door.

"Mom says you're not allowed to slam the door anymore, you're also banned from saying that things suck," Luca informed, laughing a little to highlight the humor in this situation that Reese just couldn't see.

"You suck. No, you're a suck-up and that's worse."

"That's almost hurtful," Luca said, holding a hand over his heart, "come on, we should go explore the city."

"Why would I want to explore this sucky city?"

"I told you you were banned from that word." Another laugh. Luca was almost always smiling, a smile that seemed to fit perfectly on his round face, which was framed by dreadlocks that reached his chin. He was about four inches taller than his sister and their styles were completely different. Though it was August he wore a bomber jacket and a scarf. Come December, Reese would still be rocking her short afro and wearing tank tops and basketball shorts.

"Sucks and sucky are not the same word."

"Good use of a loophole, Reese, but it doesn't work like that. This is a great opportunity for your dad and me, so we'd appreciate it if you would try to be more positive." Leiko "GoGo" Tomago stood in the doorway and glanced around the room. Reese's side was undecorated, Luca's side was already covered in pictures that he'd taken or drawn himself.

"It's not a great opportunity for me! I was co-captain of the basketball team back in Berkeley! And you just snatched it all away for no good reason!"

"We got better jobs, that's a good reason!" Though GoGo had been happy teaching in Berkeley, returning to SFIT as a professor had always been her husband's dream.

"Then why are me and Luca still sharing a bedroom?!"

"This is temporary, once things settle down, we're going to get a bigger place, and you and Luca will have your own rooms."

"I don't mind sharing," Luca said, wrapping a green scarf around his neck and grabbing his camera.

"It's not even cold, why are you wearing that ridiculous scarf and jacket?" Reese spat at him.

"Fashion," he retorted, "mom, can we go?"

"...Yeah, but be safe, make good choices. Luca, keep an eye on your sister."

"I'm older," Reese sulked.

"Then act like it and woman up," GoGo challenged her twelve-year-old. Reese scoffed and stormed out.

"Sorry, mom," Luca said hurriedly before following her.

"You guys should talk more, you're not good at it. Miscommunication could lead to serious problems in our family and then we could fall apart and I really, really don't want that," Luca said nervously, letting the more confident and sarcastic front he occasionally wore drop as they ventured out into the unknown.

"There are already problems in our family. Remember Berkeley? Remember how great that was? I had a team. Now I just have two mean grown-up opponents and one useless NPC."

"Am I the useless NPC?" Luca guessed.

"Yeah."

"Well, nitwit, there will be sports teams here in San Fransokyo. So you can basketball and soccer to your cold dead heart's content." Luca held up his camera and took a shot of the city, pretending not to be hurt by Reese's endless onslaught of angst.

"Aw, man, there's some balloon in the shot- Oh, Baymax!" Luca's face lit up when he saw the robot.

"Hey, my favorite set of twins!" And Hiro wasn't far behind.

"What's up, Uncle Hiro?" Luca reached up for a fist bump. Reese rolled her eyes.

"I'm good, what's up with you guys? Why the long faces?"

"Somebody's not the biggest fan of moving." Luca glanced at his sister, who stomped one sneaker-clad foot in indignation.

"San Fransokyo is wonderful, guys! There's so much to see! And, on that topic, so much to avoid. Let's go over some places you shouldn't end up. Luca, I know you'd do anything for a good shot, and Reese I know how competitive you are but I promise you there's nothing in Good Luck Alley that either of you wants to associate with."

"Please, Good Luck Alley doesn't sound so tough," Reese muttered.

"Things aren't always black and white, niece. Good Luck Alley is where bad things tend to happen. I thought GoGo would've warned you about that by now. She's from a bad neighborhood herself. If you're not doing anything right now, I can give you a tour of the city. We'll swing by the Lucky Cat Cafe for hot chocolate. Do you still like hot chocolate, Reese?"

"No," Reese muttered, embarrassed.

"Yeah, she does," Luca casually mentioned, taking a candid of Hiro and Reese.

"So, you're not excited to be in the greatest city in the world, Reese, but what about you, Luca? Thoughts, reservations?"

"Of course I have reservations, it's new and terrifying. But it's not the end of the world like some people make it out to be. I'm happy for mom and dad."

"That's a good way to think about it, kiddo. This is a good opportunity for all of you. Besides, you'll get to see your favorite Uncle more!"

"Oh yeah, Uncle Fred does live here," Reese said pointedly. Hiro's grin dropped.

"That's cold."

"We have two adopted uncles and two biological ones, you have a lot of competition, Uncle Hiro," Luca pointed out, taking a shot of a building as they passed.

"That's Krei Tech, I used to work there."

"Where do you work now?" Luca asked, more interested in other people's lives than Reese could ever feign.

"The Tadashi Hamada Care-For-All Clinic. I'll have to show you sometime."

"Can you show us SFIT? Where dad will be teaching?" Luca asked excitedly.

"That's kind of far away and it's getting late. I think hot chocolate and an escort home would be the best for now. I don't want to make Wasabi worry. Besides, your dad would probably be happy to give you a tour."

"Goody," Reese grumbled.

"Keep your chin up, kiddo. I was scared when I started at SFIT so I get it if you're a little nervous-"

"I'm not nervous! I'd just much rather be back in Berkeley with my team! You wouldn't understand!" Luca pulled Reese back before she could walk into traffic on accident, both of their eyes wide. Luca stared at his sister, fiddling nervously with his hair and camera. That was too close...

"San Fransokyo is a bit dangerous. Stick close to me. We'll be at the cafe in no time." Reese kept her head low, embarrassed about almost getting run over. Baymax scanned for injuries but there were no new ones on the athletic and accident-prone preteen.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate, Uncle Hiro. But we can get home on our own," Luca said, still the only one making an effort to be nice. He liked his Uncle Hiro. In any other circumstances, so did Reese. He wasn't sure about going on alone but he always tried to appear braver than he actually was.

"Nonsense, I've been dying to see your parents since they got back in the city."

"Don't tell them I almost walked into traffic. They've already taken everything from me, I don't want them grounding me too."

"She's so dramatic," Luca muttered with an eye roll, still not taking an eye off his sister.

"I won't tell them. But you have to be more careful, this is a big city and trust me, things can get pretty crazy. I need you two to be safe."

"We'll be safe." Luca lied. Neither of them was the safest kid around. Their respective ambitions were too big to be safe. He could only promise that he'd be there to drag her out of traffic.

"Alright. Remember, whatever you do, stay away from Good Luck Alley."

"Right, got it," Luca lied again.

"Okay, I'm going to trust you guys."

"A terrible decision, really," Reese said dryly.

"I'm serious though. There might not always be people there to save you," Hiro got choked up, "you might not always even have each other…" Luca didn't believe him, even though he knew what he'd just seen, even though his sister had almost died in the first chapter of their story, but he refused to believe it. Reese could push him away as much as she wanted, but they'd always have each other, right? He shook his head, moving forward.

"We'll take care of each other, Uncle Hiro," Reese promised, looking between the thirty-year-old and her brother, who was messing with his hair again.

"Good. Now let's get you two home. Wasabi is probably freaking out about you two."

"Who cares what he thinks? He ruined my life." And now she was back to being dramatic.

"Watch after her, Luca."

"I'm older!" Reese sputtered. They were nearing the apartment when suddenly a flash of green came barreling towards them and the twins were scooped up in Wasabi's strong arms.

"I was so worried about you two! Thank goodness Hiro found you something terrible could have happened!"

"Let go of me!" Reese struggled against her dad's hug.

"We were okay, dad. Sorry that we worried you." Luca always apologized whether or not the sorry was sincere.

"It's okay buddy just… This is a new city and I'm a little nervous about you wandering around by yourselves."

GoGo popped her bubblegum, "We wandered around by ourselves when we were their age, Wasabi."

"Yeah but this is different!" Wasabi hugged them one more time before setting them down. Reese got away from her dad but Luca stayed next to Wasabi, letting his dad's hand rest on his shoulder.

"You guys are so… Ugh!" Reese complained.

"Hey, I should be going," Hiro said, not wanting to stay for any of the teenage angst.

"What? No way, you're staying for dinner. I made pasta," Wasabi insisted

"Yes!" Luca cheered.

"Maybe next time, I'd have to run it by Karmi, I don't really like being away from her right now. Maybe we could get the whole gang back together."

"Aw, yeah, that would be great. I look forward to that. Get inside kids and wash up for dinner. Luca, is that a stain on your scarf?"

"Nope, just a piece of lint." Luca flicked off the lint and Wasabi let out a sigh of relief.

"Good seeing you, Hiro," GoGo said, giving him a side hug. Then she went inside to her family, glancing around at her little piece of perfection. Her son was babbling about the photos he'd taken today while Wasabi plated spaghetti and her daughter sulked. Okay, so things weren't actually perfect, but for now, they didn't need to be. And GoGo could tell that things were going to get better. This was going to be their home sweet home.


	2. First Day of School

**Same timeline as Family Dinner so if you haven't read that then Wasabi's younger brother (my OC) Khary is mentioned in this chapter and he's going to be a major player in the story moving forward. You don't have to read Family Dinner, just giving you a head's up. Enjoy!**

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"School-"

"It's not in your best interest to say that school sucks," Luca cut his sister off, grabbing the cereal off of the counter and beginning to pour.

"Why do you exist?" Reese grumbled, snatching the cereal away and pouring it directly into her mouth.

"To balance you out. And I wasn't done with that," Luca sulked, adding the milk to his half-full bowl. Reese reached for the milk next and Luca held it away from her as a form of silent protest.

"What are you guys arguing about today?" GoGo asked, coming in and grabbing a thermos of coffee from the pot Wasabi had started earlier.

"Cereal," Luca said while Reese answered, "School."

"I see, so even you two don't know why you're mad at each other. Makes sense," GoGo said, grabbing her purse.

"We're not mad at each other," Luca protested, continuing to hold the milk jug away from his sister and holding her back by the forehead, Reese making angry, growling sounds.

"Good, then you'll get along on the ride to school. Come on, kiddos."

"Can't dad drive? I don't want to die today," Reese said.

"I have to grab my camera!" Luca responded, leaving his bowl untouched and running to his room.

"Hurry up, Luca! I have to get to work! And Reese, your dad's already teaching his classes and I need to get to mine so Luca! You should have already had your camera!"

"Dad drives like he wants to make it places alive and you drive like you want to make it places fast," Reese commented.

"We both want to make it to places alive, I'm just good at making it places alive and fast and your dad is only good at making it to places alive."

Luca came back with his camera, glancing at his cereal before dumping it into the trash and shoving the milk jug back into the fridge.

"I don't want to start at this stupid new school," Reese groaned as GoGo hit the gas.

"Don't think like that, you're going to make so many friends, Reese. I met your dad and Uncle Hiro's older brother at school and you'll have the same opportunities as we did. Luca, are you excited?"

"Sure, lots of people, lots of friends," he shrugged, hiding his nervousness effortlessly.

"It's not that easy, nitwit," Reese said, shoving him a little.

"I'm not the nitwit, you're the nitwit, you're the one who didn't have any friends in Berkeley."

"I had a team! That's better than friends!"

"Yeah, sure."

"No matter what, you'll have each other. Luca, keep an eye on her."

"I'm older!" Reese raged.

"And more reckless," GoGo pointed out.

"What do you mean I'm more reckless? Luca climbs on roofs to get pictures of the sunset!"

"What?! Young man-"

"Reese nearly fell into traffic the other day!" Luca blurted to get the attention off of himself. Reese reached into the back and hit Luca several times.

"Young lady, don't hit your brother, young man, no more rooftop pictures, and both of you please be more careful. I don't want you running around the city until we get more settled in. I can't pick you up from school but there's a trolley that will get you home, and I want you going straight there."

"What if there are extracurriculars that we want to do that are today? Are you going to ruin that for us too?" Reese asked bitterly.

"Watch your tone, Reese. Just call me if anything keeps you from going straight home. And stick together. And don't ignore our calls or messages unless you're in class."

"We're at school, we're always going to be in class."

"Reese, I really don't appreciate your attitude right now. I know you're not happy with moving but you have given us nothing but disrespect and attitude. I'm sorry that we had to move, please give it a chance and know that your dad and I love you."

"Fine," Reese muttered.

"We love you too," Luca promised.

"You two are the best part of our lives. Please, we just want you to be happy and healthy. So be careful and try to enjoy your new school."

"Yeah, yeah," Reese was the first one out as they pulled up to the middle school, Luca chasing after her, ready to capture his first day on camera and grab the bull by the horns.

"Goodbye, my loves," GoGo said to the empty car before sighing and driving off to her own first day of school.

Luca and Reese were separated for parts of the day and reported back at lunch, eating outside in the concrete courtyard.

"How's your day been so far?" Luca asked, hungrily scarfing down his lukewarm cafeteria pizza.

"Sucky. But I found out basketball tryouts are next week and I'm definitely going to try out."

"That's good! I got a lot of cool photos today, and I met some people who could be potential friends for us." Luca was already essentially friends with a dozen or so people. His phone was filling up with numbers and he'd already been invited to the first pep rally by one of the football players.

"Friends for you. All I need is a team."

"Mom met dad here. Don't you want to try to reach out a little bit?"

"Not everyone is like them. I don't expect to find my soulmate in middle school."

"But are you going to look?"

"I don't know! I don't really want a soulmate."

"Are you going to finish your food?" Luca asked. She hadn't been, but when she saw him looking at it and remembered that he hadn't had breakfast this morning she deliberately ate the rest of her barely heated pizza, out of spite and annoyance that Luca was trying to push friendships on her already. Luca didn't seem to mind too much.

"Do you want to do something fun after school?" Luca asked, leaning back against the wall and taking a picture of the potential friends who didn't seem to notice them yet.

"We have to go straight home after school and there's nothing fun about that."

"We could go explore Good Luck Alley."

"Didn't Uncle Hiro tell us not to do that?"

"Yeah, that's what makes it fun."

"Good point, yeah… Let's do that." She punched his arm, "You're finally being not useless."

"The word for that is useful," Luca teased, smiling a bit. He had known if he suggested something like this, Reese would stop channeling her verbal frustration at him, and that was all he wanted.

"Don't push it."

After school, they boarded the trolley like they'd promised they would, but they got off at a different stop. They had just begun their adventure towards Good Luck Alley, Luca taking a ton of pictures, when someone grabbed them both by the shoulder. Luca yelped and instinctively reached protectively for Reese before thinking to turn around.

"Where do you two think you're going?" Their Uncle Khary asked, eyebrows furrowed as he continued to hold them by the arm. He was in uniform.

"Uncle Khary! We just got a little turned around, sorry. We were going home."

"First of all, as an expert at lying to parents I know that's not the truth, but you're certainly going home now. I owe too much to my brother and GoGo to let you guys wander around near a bunch of criminals." His lips pressed together and his eyes flitted around a bit nervously, like he was expecting someone to emerge from the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" Reese asked, trying to turn this on him. Khary gestured at his police officer's uniform.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm working. The theatre district is a couple of blocks away, I have a show I'm in right now."

"Cool! Can we come see it?" Luca asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Maybe some other time when you're not busy getting grounded, Luca." Uncle Khary pointed out.

"You're going to snitch on us? Uncool," Luca groaned.

"You're new in town and you don't know the intricacies of the city. What if I hadn't been here and you'd gotten hurt? Do your parents deserve that?"

"Yes," Reese muttered.

"No! They care about you so much. They're good parents, trust me, I know what bad parents are like and so do they. So stop putting yourselves in danger for just a moment and think about how much they care about you. Put someone else first, please." Luca hugged his uncle, and Reese reluctantly followed suit.

"We're sorry," Luca promised.

"I know you are, kiddos. Just… It scares me so much, thinking that something might happen to you. Being 12 is crazy and reckless but there are so many people that love you and don't want to think about what might happen to you if someone isn't there to save you next time you do something crazy and reckless."

"We'll always have each other. And Reese and I will be more careful," Luca assured, glancing at his sister. Khary smiled at them for a moment.

"I'm still snitching."

"Of course you are," Reese grumbled.


	3. Lectures

**I plugged her Tumblr before but Brainyxbat also has some really good BH6 stories, her first was Wasabi's Interrogation, and I'd definitely check it out! Comment if you have any BH6 authors I need to check out because I'm always happy to explore the community.**

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"You're both grounded," GoGo said with arms crossed after hearing Khary's side of the story, "You have to come straight home from school every day for a month. No stopping for pictures or activities or anything."

"Mom!" Reese protested, "Basketball tryouts are next week!"

"You should have thought about that before you broke my one rule, and in Good Luck Alley of all places!"

"We're sorry, mom, but it was my idea. Don't keep Reese from basketball because of my stupid plan," Luca pleaded, his eyes wide and urgent.

"Luca, why?" GoGo sounded so tired. She didn't understand why her children were acting out. Maybe because they were her children. She was an expert on acting out. She just personally thought that she and Wasabi didn't deserve it. But she wasn't going to bring up her own past to guilt-trip her kids.

"I uh, I don't, I…" Luca stammered. GoGo turned to her daughter.

"Reese, go to your room, we'll talk in a minute." Reese, for once, didn't protest. She did slam the door, though. Luca looked terrified, gripping his camera for comfort.

"Luca, I'm disappointed. The only thing that I've asked of you since we moved is that you come straight home and be careful in the city and you disregarded that immediately. Why would you do that?"

"...I don't know."

"Luca, I need an answer."

"I really don't know! It was impulsive. It was stupid. I'm sorry."

"You always say that you're sorry, Luca, but I need to see that you are. If you were sorry then you wouldn't keep putting you and your sister in danger. If you can't explain why you do that now then come talk to me when you can because I don't want to hear another apology until you figure out what you're apologizing for. And you're telling your father what you did today when he gets home. Go send Reese in. I really mean it, Luca, I need you to realize what you did before I accept any apologies."

"Just don't punish her on my behalf."

"I'll keep that in mind." GoGo hated being so hard on him but she knew he needed to hear it, even if it hurt them both.

Luca trudged down the hallway feeling drained and disgusting, grimy from guilt. He opened the door and held it open for Reese.

"It's your turn," he muttered before dropping down onto the bed. Seeing how wrecked Luca had been by the lecture, Reese slammed the door on the way out on his behalf.

"You can try out for basketball. I believe that it was Luca's idea. But if you're not doing something for basketball you're coming straight home every day. And I expect to not hear any more complaints about moving, you hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"But we can talk about it, you know? I'm going to miss parts of Berkeley too. And when I was in Berkeley I missed it here. The grass is always greener, Reese. I love you and your brother more than anything in the world. But you need to start opening up instead of acting out when you feel hurt or sad or angry. And saying everything sucks isn't talking about it."

"Yes, ma'am."

"We could talk right now if you like."

"I think I'm going to go back to Luca. He seemed upset."

"Right…" GoGo sighed sadly.

"Just talk to me or dad if something's bothering you. It's not healthy to bottle it up."

"Let me guess, you know from experience?" Adults were always saying that to them.

"Yeah, I do. You can go check on Luca now. I'm sure your father will want to talk to you later about what you did."

"Yay…" Reese muttered, clearly a little nervous about getting her overprotective dad involved. It was bad enough to be lectured by mom. She found Luca doodling in his notebook, pretending not to be incredibly stressed out.

"Mom said I could play basketball, so that's good. I take it your conversation didn't go as good?" Reese wasn't sympathetic most of the time but today she opted to show some almost compassion.

"I have to tell dad about what we did today. By myself."

"You won't be by yourself," Reese said. Luca looked up at her, hopefully.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, dad will be there." Luca threw his pillow at her. She threw it back.

"I'll be there too, nitwit. I agreed to come with you to Good Luck Alley. I should take some of the fall since you did make it so I could play basketball. You still have to tell him, because mom said so, but I won't make you do it alone."

"Thanks, Reese, that's really nice-" Her basketball came sailing across the room, narrowly missing him.

"Don't get sappy."

"Stop throwing things in the house!" GoGo yelled from the kitchen.

"We're in major trouble…" Luca muttered.

"What did she say to you?"

"She wanted an explanation and I couldn't give her one, she said until I can she's not accepting my apology. The grounding is one thing but all this guilt is going to drive me insane. I've never had someone just not accept my apology. What does that lead to? What if she's never not mad at me? What if she never forgives me?"

"Hey, that's not hard, just come up with a reason why you wanted to go to Good Luck Alley. It was just for pictures right? That's an explanation. Tell her, you'll get forgiven and everything's okay again, right?"

"Wrong! They're mad at me and they know that I'm not a good kid anymore and they're going to start distancing themselves from me and everything will fall apart!" What was that thing her brother always liked to repeat?

"We'll always be there for each other. Dad will be home soon so just figure out what you're going to tell him."

"I'm just going to tell him that Uncle Khary caught us visiting Good Luck Alley."

"And if he asks for an explanation?"

"Then I'm going to tell him that I don't know and that I'm figuring it out."

"That's a terrible explanation."

"Yeah, I know."

"Why don't you know why you did it? I did it because San Fransokyo is boring and thought that something dangerous would be exciting. Did you do it for excitement?"

"I don't know…"

"Why don't you know?!" Now Reese was just as frustrated at Luca as GoGo was.

"I don't know!"

"You're impossible. Think! Figure it out! Or we could be grounded forever!"

"Just give me some time and space. When dad gets home I'll have figured it out."

"Really?"

"No. Maybe. Probably not..."

"I believe in you, or whatever. Does that help? Go, team!"

"I thought I was an NPC."

"Oh, no, you totally are. I was just trying to be positive. But if that's not helping then I'll just shut up and you can figure this mess out on your own."

"Thank you," Luca groaned, continuing to doodle while he thought about it. When they got called to dinner Luca looked like he was going to be sick.

"Wasabi, Luca has something to tell you," GoGo said.

"I love you," Luca blurted.

"Aww, thanks bud, I love you too."

"That's not it." GoGo crossed her arms.

"He doesn't love me?" Wasabi asked, confused.

"No, I do, just today mom told us to come straight home and then Uncle Khary found us in Good Luck Alley..."

"Khary was in Good Luck Alley? I told him it wasn't safe- wait, you two were in Good Luck Alley?!" Wasabi panicked.

"Did you get hurt, are you okay? Did anything happen?"

"We're fine," Reese promised.

"You're not allowed in Good Luck Alley. You're grounded."

"Mom already grounded us," Reese said.

"Good job, mom. But I'm serious, this isn't a joke. Your safety is important, we love you two! Why in the world would you be in Good Luck Alley?"

"It was my idea," Luca muttered.

"But why?"

"I don't know! I'm trying to figure that out."

"I'm upset that you two went to Good Luck Alley. I'm even more upset that you disobeyed your mother. Don't mess around like that with your lives. Luca, when you figure it out, we need to talk."

"I'm sorry," Luca said, looking miserable.

"I know you are, you always are. But now you need to prove it. We love you. Please be responsible." Luca hadn't touched dinner and he got up now, which meant the only thing he'd had all day was cafeteria pizza, but his stomach was tied up in knots so he was now unable to eat. Wasabi remembered the days when he'd been the same way, only able to drink coffee and hope that everything would be okay eventually. He went to go start a pot.

"Good job guys, you broke Luca," Reese grumbled, grabbing his plate to try and convince him to eat away from their parents' scrutiny.

"We didn't say they could leave the table," GoGo muttered, putting her head in her hands.

"We're good parents… The move is just stressing them out," Wasabi said, trying to convince himself as well as her.

"It's stressing me out! I feel like I don't even know my own children right now. I feel like I don't know Luca! At least Reese's angst is consistent. I did break Luca..."

"It's not your fault, GoGo. If anyone is to blame, it's me. But everything will be okay. We love them and they love us and we love each other. We'll figure it out. They're good kids..."

"We're not good parents," GoGo muttered.

"I think Khary would disagree."

"We barely helped Khary."

"If we had barely helped Khary then he wouldn't be around today to help his niece and nephew. I'm going to call him." Wasabi went off with his cell phone and GoGo looked around once more at the empty table.

"Dinner's dismissed, guys," she muttered, and then she went to go for a walk to clear her busy head.


	4. Solitary

**It turns out I update really fast if I'm ignoring the responsibilities of college/ignoring the breakdown I had over a class that is required for my major but won't help me at all and should be really fun.**

**It turns out I revise if I'm ignoring other responsibilities and breakdowns, too. Turns out I re-revise super fast if I'm in lockdown.**

**Uh... Please review.**

**And enjoy!**

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Luca was on his own. Not a good sign, honestly. But someone, not to name names, had gotten onto the basketball team. And now that same someone had a ride home after practice with "Sara" and everything was terrible. It mostly meant that Luca served solitary for their grounding. By his math, he had two hours from getting off school before his mom and sister were home from work and basketball respectively. So he lied. He was supposed to come straight home, but who was holding him accountable? If mom was at work and dad was at work and Reese was tearing up a basketball court and he was supposed to be all alone the least he could do was walk home instead of taking the trolley or the train.

Luca hated being alone. He also kind of hated being with people. Doubt would creep into his head either way. No matter how alone or not alone he was he wouldn't fully believe that people liked him. Now he was in a new city and Reese had her team and he was already pretty popular but he was still alone. The people he would laugh and joke with didn't actually like him, they liked something about him, the scarf, or the camera, or the fact that he never pushed people away. It got worse on his walks home though because he was becoming convinced that even his own family didn't like him. Why else would they make him serve solitary?

Some days he hurried home faster than others. It depended on how heavy the doubts weighed on him. He was panicked now, walking faster, not even seeing all the sights he could take a picture of. It was downhill and his legs couldn't keep up with the momentum, so he was sent sprawling forward. The fall came with a horrible crack and, when he looked down at his camera, the lens was broken. Now his eyes were filled with tears and he didn't even care that his knees and elbows were scraped.

It felt like forever until he finally reached the apartment. He had a key but he sat outside instead because he had discovered that it didn't feel like home when it was empty. Reese would be home first. He'd pretend he'd forgotten his key and she would call him a nitwit and he would hide his broken camera and red eyes. Until then he could play a mobile game or work on homework and not dwell on the number of people who didn't like him. It seemed like such a large number.

But then it felt like time was moving so slowly, so he set to moving again. It was stupid, probably, to keep walking around San Fransokyo alone. He didn't even have Reese now. It was one of his stupider moves. Reese was better off with her team, her cooler friends, anyway. He tried to think about his own friends at school. He'd been telling his posse about Berkeley. That got him thinking about Berkeley though, and all the friends he hadn't really had there. 45 minutes away and none of them had offered to visit. None of them even texted him anymore. He didn't matter to them so why should he matter to the people in his life now? The nuances of relationships were so complicated! He just wanted to give it all up.

Who needs friends anyway? Who needs sisters or parents or friends or uncles or anyone? He stumbled again, this time protecting his already broken camera. He didn't get up right away, tears spilling down his face. Maybe his mom or Reese would be home soon, but he didn't care. He didn't want to go home. It didn't feel like home when it was empty. It didn't feel like home.

Berkeley hadn't felt like home either, though it had been the only one he knew for the longest time. Home was a set of people for him, his sister, and his parents. So when doubts crept into his mind that they didn't care, that they were better without him, that with every rule he broke out of impulse he was pushing them further away he felt homesick. When the doubts so totally overwhelmed him nowhere felt like home. Because that was when he wasn't secure in the belief that his family was his home or even his family at all.

It was getting late. Reese would be home. Maybe mom. Maybe dad. The sun was getting low. He glanced at his watch. 6:45. Dad would definitely be home. Maybe they were looking for him. Maybe they had called him. Maybe his weeks of solitary would stretch on into infinity but he couldn't deal with that so he kept walking, made turns he didn't recognize, put one foot in front of the other. He didn't check his phone, he just gripped his unusable camera and kept walking, moved by impulse.

Impulse, he supposed, was what had always moved him. It's the only excuse he'd been able to give to his mom, though she'd pressed him for more. He guessed he didn't like to be still, or quiet, or alone. That's why, maybe, he filled his life with so many people he didn't think were actually his friends. Why he was always taking pictures, doodling, tidying up, going on walks. He didn't have his parent's perfectionism but he had the same unhealthy dose of nervous energy. The sun was almost gone, so he checked his phone.

The number of missed calls was almost astounding, from Reese, from mom, dad, from Uncle Khary, Uncle Hiro, Uncle Fred, Aunt Honey Lemon. He shoved his phone in his pocket and kept walking, head down. Sirens screamed in the distance. Was that for him or for something else?

He couldn't go home. He had to keep moving. He couldn't go back to solitary. If he kept moving maybe he wouldn't have to face those ugly thoughts that held him back. Why did his stupid lens have to be busted? Why did his stupid brain have to be busted? His foot caught once more on a bit of uneven sidewalk and this fall was the one that brought down an empire. His head bounced off the concrete and he shut his eyes in pain. He winced as he stood and only managed a few more steps before he gave up entirely. Certainly, the sirens were getting louder. He reached for his phone, ready to spew apologies, but it slipped from his fingers, consciousness slipping from his mind before he could make the call.


	5. Hospital Room

**Reese was supposed to be more of a problem child but I couldn't overlook Luca, so she'll get her turn, I promise! Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

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There were so many people in the room when Luca woke up. He was home. Not in a literal sense, because he was in a hospital room, but he was home because the people he cared about were all around him. He opened his very dry mouth to speak, "I'm sorry."

"Why wouldn't you come straight home?!" GoGo exploded, eyes red from crying

"I'm sorry, mom. I couldn't keep still. I couldn't go home and be alone, it was worse-"

"Worse than getting hurt? Worse than breaking your camera? I thought you were the responsible one!"

"Well, that's your fault! I just try to make up for her mistakes but that doesn't mean I don't get to be free to make my own!"

"You're not free to make your own! You were grounded and you broke the one expectation we had for you!"

"I couldn't go back to solitary!" Luca began to cough.

"Luca-" GoGo continued, but Wasabi put a hand on her shoulder, "Not right now, GoGo. Luca, we're just glad you're okay, although what you did was wrong."

"I know, dad."

"We were really worried about you, son. Everyone dropped everything to search the city for you."

"I guess I kind of disappear when I'm on my own," Luca muttered.

"Please don't scare us like that again. The rules are in place for a reason. You got hurt, kiddo. That's the last thing we want happening to you."

"I really am sorry, the only explanation I can give is that the thoughts in my head are too loud and if I'm not doing something it'll get louder and… I'm sorry, it's stupid, I'm sorry." Wasabi put a strong hand on his son's shoulder.

"You can talk about it, Luca. Anything that's on your mind. Any negative thoughts that are weighing you down, we're here for you and we love you and we'll get through this together."

"Am I still grounded?"

"Double or triple grounded," GoGo promised.

"Oh."

"Khary said he would pick you up from school from now on," Wasabi said, shooting his brother a grateful look.

"That makes sense," Luca sighed, closing his eyes.

"I'm so sorry… I'm sorry I got hurt and stressed you out and everything. I'm sorry… Please forgive me this time…" Wasabi glanced at GoGo.

"Of course we forgive you, buddy…" Wasabi promised. GoGo turned away, about to cry. She hated seeing her son hurt. She hated wondering if things were going to be okay instead of just being able to make things okay. She'd never understood Wasabi's need for order until the chaos of having kids had entered her life. She'd thought that she and Wasabi were able to handle anything until she realized that she hadn't totally handled all of her own emotional baggage before bringing two beings into the world with emotional baggage of their own. And she wished she could just feel their pain for them instead of watching Reese and Luca suffer. So she turned away and walked out, choking back sobs.

"Sorry, bud. I'm going to go check on her. We'll be back in a bit." Luca didn't have time to question it; his uncles and aunt quickly swarmed him.

"How are you doing? How's your head?" Aunt Honey Lemon asked, peering down at Luca. Luca forced a smile.

"I'm okay, it doesn't even hurt. I'm sorry I worried all of you."

"Everyone makes mistakes when they're kids," Uncle Hiro said.

"No one said how long you'd be in the hospital since it's just a minor concussion so I got you a survival bag. Honey Lemon helped." Uncle Fred put a heavy bag on Luca's lap, full of comics, colored pencils, a sketchbook, action figures, and a big stuffed bear.

"Wow, this is a lot, thank you, Uncle Fred."

"Anything for my favorite nephew. Let me know if you need anything else. Oh, Reese! I got you a present as well!" Fred chased his niece down, proudly showing off the sports memorabilia they shared an appreciation for.

Khary sat next to Luca on the bed, though Luca was only able to watch his sister and Uncle Fred. Khary nudged him a little.

"It looks like we'll be carpooling for a few months, bud," Khary said, giving Luca a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry," Luca mumbled, his aching head dropping in shame.

"Don't worry about it. It will be fun." Luca gave him a dubious look.

"What? I'm the fun uncle."

"Yep," Luca agreed.

"Do I really lose out to Fred and Khary?" Hiro groaned.

"And Damon, sometimes," Luca laughed.

"Oh, that's just cold."

"You're a fun uncle!" Luca assured, before yawning a bit.

"Yeah, don't feel bad Hiro, you'll get plenty of chances to beat Damon. He was closer to them in Berkeley but it's your time to shine. Why don't we go check on Wasabi and GoGo? Luca looks like he needs to get some rest."

"I'm fine," Luca mumbled, eyes already closing.

"Right," Khary brushed the hair out of his face and moved Fred's survival bag off the bed so Luca could rest easy.

"How's Karmi?" He asked his friend as they went after the stressed parents.

"She's good, things have been a little bit more stressful, though," Hiro admitted, a little anxious to get back to his pregnant wife.

"Oh, I imagine. But are you excited?"

"I couldn't be more excited if I tried," Hiro said with a smile as they approached GoGo and Wasabi.

GoGo wasn't crying when the two found her, but Wasabi was holding her securely, and she looked tired.

"Luca's okay, he's resting in the other room. He's a good kid, GoGo. You just have to show him what you showed me, that it's okay to open up and ask for help. That you don't have to be independent to woman up." Khary put a hand on his sister-in-law's shoulder comfortingly.

"You've gotten so smart," Wasabi mentioned, beaming proudly at his little brother.

"I learned from the best. Just show him he has the space to open up and then give him the time to do so and he will when he's ready."

"I was more scared today than I ever have been, today when he didn't come home. I thought he was dead. I thought we weren't going to find him," GoGo admitted, shuddering a bit.

"Who actually found him?" Hiro asked curiously.

"Fred. Fred knows these streets better than anyone," Wasabi explained.

"That's good. I would've dusted off Baymax's city-wide scanner if things had continued the way they were headed," Hiro said. Wasabi and GoGo both shot a glance at Khary, who crossed his arms.

"Do you think I didn't know?" Khary asked, giving Wasabi a look.

"We kinda hoped you didn't know…"

"Damon knows too. We used to make bets about when you'd finally let it slip. After several failed attempts I finally won since the twins aren't teens yet. And it was double or nothing."

"Sorry I was the one to ruin the secret," Hiro said sheepishly.

"No, don't worry about it," Wasabi assured his friend, "so long as the twins don't know. Thanks for being here for us, Hiro. It's been really stressful. I know we keep talking about all of us getting together but I didn't think it would be on these terms."

"Next time it won't be. We can have dinner at the cafe."

"That sounds wonderful," Wasabi said gratefully.

"We should go check on the kids. Thanks again, Hiro, Khary. You were both a lot of help today, we'll meet up soon for that dinner. It'll be just like old times."

"Hopefully not just like," Hiro laughed.

"Do you need a ride?" Khary asked Hiro, "it would be nice to catch up."

"Sure!" The old friends walked out together, chatting happily, and GoGo and Wasabi went back to check on their kids. Wasabi squeezed her hand as they walked.

"I know that it hurts, GoGo. I'm hurting too. But we can help them. We can take the pain away, at least some of it…"

"I hate that he's hurt. And it's my fault…"

"It's not your fault."

"If I was a stay-at-home-mother, or if I'd asked to get off work a little earlier, if I'd just been there for him, he wouldn't be hurt right now."

"You're perfect as you are, GoGo. Kids get hurt. I wish it hadn't happened to Luca but he broke the rules and suffered the consequences of it. I think it's important that we help him through this rebellious phase."

"Why does he have to have a rebellious phase?"

"Because he's his mother's son. There are always going to be rebellious phases. We can get through Luca and Reese's rebellion together. We're a team. We've got this."

"How are you so mellow? Aren't you freaking out?"

"Yeah, but I married someone who really helped me with my nerves. You made me a better person, GoGo. Together we'll be better parents. And we'll help them be better too. I love you, GoGo."

"I love you too, Wasabi." They headed into the hospital room, where Fred and Reese were locked in a fierce rock, paper, scissors battle, and Luca was fast asleep, Honey Lemon keeping him company. She stood when she saw them, giving GoGo and Wasabi a hug, promising to keep in touch, then calling Fred away to give them some space.

"It's weird that they're leaving together," Wasabi mentioned, basically to himself, as GoGo called over her daughter and held her close, and they all spent a somewhat restless night in the hospital room.

It's fun to think about what our favorite characters are up to right now. I'm kind of feeling like I should do a slow burn, a "we used to have a crush on each other and now something is finally coming from it" relationship for Fred and Honey Lemon, who have always been a lowkey secondary OTP for me. Thanks for all the reviews! You guys make my day. :D


	6. Sleepover

**I'm kind of super sorry that there aren't descriptions for the kids yet? I switched around the order of these chapters because I wasn't enjoying writing the one that was going to go before this one. That chapter will still be appearing and it has descriptions for Luca and Reese, but I've been trying to move away from/better integrate Luca's plotline so that Reese has her own time to shine and so that I like her more. I think I like her more, so that's good news! But you'll have to wait for one more chapter for a tiny bit of character description. (The 2020 update has descriptions for Luca and Reese in the first chapter, thank goodness)**

**My friends Brainyxbat and TheSparklyKitten are really good at descriptions so if you're reading this and you're not them you might want to go check out their writing.**

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"What's your brother like?" Reese had been concentrating on practice but Addison's question startled her.

"What? Why does that matter?" She shot the basketball, just barely missing and collecting the ball, trying not to seem too frustrated by the distraction.

"I don't know. You said you had a twin brother. Is he an athlete too?"

"No, he's a massive klutz and an artist. He takes photos and draws stuff."

"Why doesn't he hang out with you?"

"We hang out. This team is my first priority. And he's grounded right now."

"Ooh, a bad boy." Reese snorted.

"Nah he's a pushover. He's just stupid and impulsive."

"Oh I get it, you don't like your brother."

Reese sputtered indignantly, "What?! Of course I like my brother! He's just weird. He's not like me, so if you like me you might not like him, and if you don't like me you might like him. Make sense?" That wasn't exactly how life worked but Reese tended to oversimplify things while Luca tended to overcomplicate things. She'd never shared friends with her brother so she assumed that it wasn't possible.

"I guess so."

"Let's just focus on the game. This is stupid."

"Oh, okay." After that Addison dropped it and Reese didn't think about Luca again until her friend/neighbor/teammate Sara dropped her off at her apartment and she went inside. Luca was in the kitchen doing homework at the kitchen island.. He never did it in the room when he was alone for whatever reason. She sat next to him and pulled out her work, getting serious.

"What are you working on?" Luca asked. Less than a week ago he'd been in the hospital with a minor concussion. Now he was still experiencing some of the effects of that, but he would typically say he was fine.

"Math. How's your head?"

"It's fine." That's what Reese had expected to hear.

"What are you working on?"

"Science."

"No you're not, you're drawing."

"Maybe a little bit. I have plenty of time to finish my homework."

"Speak for yourself. Oh, hey, I'm sleeping in the living room tonight. I'm having Addison and Sara from the team over."

"Oh. Okay." This only upset Luca a little bit. He didn't care if his sister made friends or grew apart from him or had sleepovers. But he was usually the one to make friends. He was usually the one to have sleepovers. Maybe there was something wrong with him. Maybe no one liked him at this school. It didn't matter that he sat with dozens of people at lunch and would be having sleepovers if he wasn't grounded. He dug his pencil into the paper, breaking the lead and causing a rip.

"Dork," Reese snickered, rolling him one of her pencils. He started on his science homework. Wasn't Reese grounded? How was she having a sleepover? He opened his mouth to say something, then he realized that if he was his mom and dad he would be overjoyed that Reese had enough friends to have a sleepover and he closed his mouth again. It wasn't fair for him to be jealous, he had friends, Reese deserved some too. Reese didn't recognize her brother's distress because Luca was generally distressed. She just worked on her homework until mom got home.

"Reese, help me with dinner since your friends are coming over."

"Okay, mom." Reese was surprisingly cooperative. Luca couldn't focus on his homework at the kitchen counter, so he went to his room, where he and Reese shared a desk. Where he could take out all of his markers and colored pencils and regular pencils and pens (of various colors) and line them up in order of size and not do homework there, either. Fortunately for everyone involved, he was not the smart twin. Contrary to popular belief, there wasn't one! Both Reese and Luca were mediocre at school at worst, average at best. Reese would get into college on a basketball or soccer scholarship. Luca was in between not going or going to an art school. Maybe the one here. Aunt Honey Lemon had taken some classes there. He could ask her for advice when the time came.

Dinner was surprisingly uneventful. Wasabi and GoGo found Sara and Addison to both be incredibly charming and, though both basketball players tried to engage Luca in the conversation, it mostly went on between Reese, Sara, and Addison, with Luca just eating and going to his room. He'd offered to be the one to sleep in the living room and let his sister and her friends take the bedroom, but they'd declined. So he was all alone in a room meant for two.

And Reese was with her friends which, admittedly, felt kind of nice. It was something she wasn't exactly used to, so she was enjoying it immensely. They put on a movie and talked through most of it.

"Your family seems nice," Addison mentioned.

"Yeah," Reese agreed with a shrug, "I guess so."

"Your parents seem to care about you and your brother," Addison continued.

"I guess so," Reese agreed.

"You're lucky," Addison finished, which surprised her.

"Yeah?" Reese asked.

"I haven't seen my dad since I was four. At least both of your parents are around, even if they ground you and stuff."

"You're right," Reese acknowledged, thinking about it, "but nothing is perfect."

"Nothing is ever perfect," Addison said, "but you get the chance to make things better. You get to talk to them and work out all the problems. I don't have that chance with my dad, even though I really, really want it."

"I guess I didn't think about that… A lot's been going on, I maybe haven't been seeing things from other perspectives." Maybe she would work better with this new team and in this new city if she could see things from a different angle.

They had just moved on from the topic and were talking about playing a game of Truth or Dare when the door creaked open. Three pairs of eyes followed Luca as he crept out of the bedroom.

"Sorry, sorry, just grabbing a drink of water..."

"Do you want to play Truth or Dare with us, Luca?" Addison asked, and Sara and Reese agreed, waving him over.

"Sure, I guess." A smile stretched over his face.

"Have you guys played it before?" Sara asked, looking in between the twins. Luca nodded and Reese shook her head.

"When have you played it?" Reese asked Luca, a little surprised.

"I've been to sleepovers before," Luca reminded.

"Oh yeah," sometimes Reese forgot her brother had friends. He hadn't seemed all that affected by the move and leaving all of those friends behind, he had so many new friends now. Reese had been and still was, shaken up by leaving her team. Luca's general indifference made it easy to forget that he easily made connections with people and was popular.

"Okay, Reese, truth or dare," Sara asked.

"Truth."

"Do you like your old team more than us?"

"I think I'm going to like you guys more, I never did sleepovers with them or hung out outside of practices. But I still do miss them a lot," Reese answered honestly.

"That's fair. It's your turn to ask someone."

"Okay, Addison… Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to write something stupid on your arm in sharpie and go to the game tomorrow with it still on your arm."

"Something stupid? Like what?"

"I don't know, you could say that you love some stupid pop icon or something like that." Reese wasn't good at this, but Addison laughed and went along with it. She wrote something about having a crush on someone in a boy band.

"Luca, truth or dare?"

"I'll go the same as Reese, truth."

"That's boring but I'll let it slide this time. What are you most scared of?"

"Losing the people I care about the most. Sara, truth or dare?" Luca didn't give a lot of time for people to dwell on his answer.

"Oh, I guess I'll do dare too."

"Sing the first song you can think of." The game went on for a few more rounds before they all eventually went to bed. Luca liked Reese's new friends, but he was still trying to figure out where he fit in at school, and so was Reese. They weren't all that different at all.


	7. Family Day

**Heyyyy last update of the decade (for me) and it goes to GoGosabi, nice... I really like this chapter and I'm really excited about the next few chapters, too!**

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Saturdays started early in the Tomago household. Wasabi and Luca were the first ones up, then GoGo, then Reese.

"Mom, are we out of cereal?" Reese complained.

"No, it's in the pantry," GoGo said.

"We have a pantry?" Reese asked in surprise.

"It's the bread closet," Luca informed from his seat at the counter.

"Oh, the bread closet," Reese nodded.

"What did you think a pantry was?" GoGo asked.

"Dad watches that one weird cooking show a lot so I thought pantries were for strange root vegetables and white truffle oil," Reese explained. GoGo laughed.

"Good guess, but not quite."

"So it's a room where you keep bread and cereal?" Reese asked.

"Kind of. But don't get cereal. I'm making eggs and bacon," Wasabi said.

"You take forever to cook," Reese whined.

"It's not like you have anywhere to be. Sit next to your brother and it will be done soon."

"Fine. Can I go out today? Sara and I were going to go to the park and get some practice in."

"Uh, no, you're grounded and we're having a Family Day," GoGo said.

"Why do I still have to be grounded? Doesn't Luca's big bad thing overshadow my much smaller bad thing?"

"We said you'd be grounded for a month so you'll be grounded for a month. Luca's big bad thing gets him the fair amount of grounding too. We don't ground you for no reason," GoGo explained.

"I'm sorry again," Luca piped up, doodling in the sketchbook from Uncle Fred.

"We forgive you, but we have to punish you. How are you feeling?" Luca's concussion had been gone for a week now but Wasabi was still worried about him.

"Surviving, not thriving," Luca said. Wasabi gave him a puzzled look.

"Sorry I heard that at school. I feel fine."

"Good. And how's school going?" GoGo asked.

"It's going alright, classes are boring, but my friends are cool. Scout's going to teach me football." His parents didn't know who Scout was and his sister knew that Luca was never going to learn football but it was nice to see him happy.

GoGo turned to her daughter, "Reese, how about you? How's school?"

"It would be better if you let me practice with Sara," Reese muttered bitterly.

"We're going to go visit SFIT, your dad will show you where he's teaching and you'll see where we went to college and stuff."

"That sounds boring," Reese grumbled.

"It sounds cool! I've been wanting to see SFIT," Luca argued.

"You're boring," Reese grumbled.

"Please don't argue," Wasabi said, putting down a plate with scrambled eggs and bacon in front of Reese.

"Thanks, dad."

"Yours will be done in a moment, Luca," Wasabi promised since Luca preferred fried eggs. And then maybe he would make something for himself and GoGo.

"Thank you!" Reese dug in and Luca kept drawing, his mom coming over and looking at it.

"What are you drawing, bud?" She asked, looking over his shoulder. He covered it immediately.

"Secret."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay. I can show you some other stuff that I was working on." GoGo still saw the "secret" drawing, which was a picture of a young-ish woman who was a little more attractive than GoGo would have wanted her 12-year-old drawing. From her glance, the woman looked like she was straight out of one of Fred's comics. Maybe she should have a talk with Fred about what was appropriate for 12-year-olds. Fred was a big kid himself, except when he was at work, so he might've forgotten about some things. She laughed to herself about the idea of Fred having a kid of his own one day.

The rest of Luca's stuff was also superhero based except for several background pieces.

"I took that shot," Luca explained proudly, "and I've been practicing drawing it." He was still learning art but it wasn't bad for a 12-year-old.

"You like superheroes, huh?" GoGo asked.

"I've had a lot of time to read Uncle Fred's comics lately," Luca replied with a shrug.

"I'd rather be outside taking pictures, though." Another part of his punishment was that they weren't getting him another professional camera until his birthday. He had several disposable cameras and an old digital one but they weren't going to get him a "real" camera until September 27th, in a handful of weeks. It wasn't a money issue, they could afford it and already knew which one they were getting him, it would be a good birthday. They'd had to urge their entire friend group not to go out and impulse buy Luca a camera because it was one of the consequences of his actions.

"You'll have a chance to get some photos today around the campus," GoGo assured. Wasabi dropped Luca's plate in front of him and then made what eggs were leftover for him and GoGo. He was excited to show his kids where he worked, his classroom, his office/lab, everything that had been important to him and GoGo as college students… It sounded blissful and nostalgic.

Reese still wasn't having it, "We have a game on Friday! I need to get in as much practice as I can! Why do you guys hate me?"

"We don't hate you, young lady, now finish your breakfast and get ready to go. Family Day is for the whole family," GoGo said sternly, Reese suddenly thought back to her conversation with Addison and left the kitchen without an argument.

"Is Uncle Khary going to be there?" Luca asked.

"No, he has rehearsal," Wasabi said between bites of eggs.

"Uncle Fred? Uncle Hiro? Aunt Honey Lemon? Uncle Damon?"

"Uncle Damon is still in Berkeley, so no… It's just the four of us."

"So Family Day isn't for the whole family. Because you always say they're just as much a part of this family."

"They are, but I meant this immediate family. You need to get ready to go too, young man."

"I'm basically ready," Luca grumbled, already wearing a light purple shirt, his brown bomber jacket, and a dark blue scarf.

"I guess you are. But you'll still need to get socks and shoes on."

"Yes, mom." She brushed Luca's short dreadlocks out of his face and smiled at him, trying to keep some semblance of order for the four of them. It was much harder whenever she had to punish them. Otherwise, everyone mostly got along.

Reese was still grumbling about Family Day when she came back dressed in red and white shorts, a black tank top, and sneakers. She kept her hair as short afro so that it wouldn't get in the way of her athletic pursuits, which was the only thing she wanted to pursue this morning.

"We had a basketball goal in Berkeley!" She pointed out angrily.

"Maybe we'll have one again when we have a house, and your dad and I are already looking. It's not the end of the world if you spend some time with us. You might like it. We let you have your sleepover so could you please stop complaining?" GoGo was desperate for her daughter to stop complaining about the move. Reese seemed happy at her new school with her new basketball team. But if even the slightest thing messed with her plans it was back to being the end of the world. Sometimes it felt like Reese was holding her happiness hostage until she had control of things, which wasn't exactly GoGo's favorite thing to deal with. Though she supposed, if she looked at it, Reese just needed a different sort of order than Wasabi did. GoGo tried to be patient but it was tested, time and time again.

"Fine, whatever, sorry…" Reese remembered Addison's talk once more and piped down, holding on to her criticisms until she had something constructive to say. Luca had his small digital camera and was already halfway out the door.

"Wait for us!" Wasabi called, reaching to rein Luca back in, keeping a hand on his son's shoulder for comfort and security. Because of the incident, Wasabi was maybe a little extra protective right now.

"Hurry up then," Luca laughed, his smile bright as he glanced up at his dad and then at his mom and sister. The laugh, the smile, that was why they had Family Day, GoGo remembered it now. She did it for that wholesome happiness. Hopefully, Reese would be happier by the end of the day.

Reese did not want to be happier by the end of the day. Being robbed of her Saturday still irked her. She was silent and brooding and let out a minor complaint every few minutes.

"You drive so slow," she complained to her dad.

"I thought you preferred it when he drives," GoGo mentioned.

"Whatever."

"You'll get to see your friends on Monday and you'll have practice then."

"Fine, whatever." Luca glanced over his sister and rolled his eyes.

"Quit being a baby," Luca teased.

"I'm older than you," Reese grumbled.

"There's an outdoor court on campus, we can play a round of Horse as a family after the tour and lunch," Wasabi said, which appeased Reese for now.

"Are you really looking for a house already?" Luca asked, doodling in the back before passing his sister the sketchpad, apparently starting a game of tic tac toe.

"Yeah, it's looking promising. We might be able to move somewhere by January," GoGo told him.

"Cool, cool." Luca shot a thumbs up and put an O in the middle of the paper. Maneuvering her Xs, Reese beat him like seventeen times before they pulled up to Wasabi's reserved parking spot at SFIT.

"You guys ready?" Wasabi was excited despite knowing that neither of his kids would ever want to attend this school.

"Yeah!" Luca cheered with a grin, and Reese shrugged, cooperative at least. They walked across campus, Wasabi pointing out minor things before getting to the exciting part of the tour.

"This is my office!" Wasabi's office was covered in framed pictures, him and his brothers, him and BH6, him and GoGo and the kids, designs he'd made and patented, pictures and drawings that Luca had contributed, his walls told his history, although some pictures were obviously not present.

"Your office is cool," Luca commented, wandering around, clearly excited that his pictures were featured in his dad's office.

"Yeah, you like it? Me too." Everything was in its place and when students came to talk to him they always noticed calming music playing in the background. Wasabi had quickly gotten the reputation of the easiest professor to talk to and he had a good relationship with most of his students.

"It's awesome," Luca had no interest in this kind of thing, but he did find his parents' professions impressive, and Reese had to agree.

"Let's go see the lab," Wasabi suggested, waving them out and down the hall. He was giddy. GoGo smiled at his enthusiasm and slipped her hand into his. Showing his kids around the lab where he and GoGo had essentially started dating was a blast from the past, and he couldn't get over all the memories he had there. Reese even seemed to be a little impressed while Wasabi told anecdotes and started a game of robot ping pong, with GoGo taking pictures on her phone of the three.

As promised, they played a quick game of basketball as a family, with Reese crushing all of them. Family Day had turned out pretty excellent after all.


	8. Favorite Uncle

**And we're back, baby! Vacation was excellent, outlines have been outlined, and Moving Too Fast is going to kill it in 2020! And maybe some other, secret projects? Who knows?! (Update: The secret project is Wingmen, a collab on Brainyxbat's page, go check it out!)**

* * *

Every day after school Uncle Khary dropped by Reese and Luca's school to pick up Luca and drive him home. It had only been going on for a while and it was working pretty well. Khary and Luca had always been pretty close. Khary knew that Wasabi and GoGo were wonderful parents but he was still protective of his niece and nephew.

"Do you want to get ice cream before we head home?" Khary asked one day.

"Are we allowed to do that?"

"Pretty sure the only rule is that I get you home safe, right?"

"Right…"

"Besides, it's almost your birthday."

"My birthday is in like a week and a half."

"Yeah, that's soon. Anyways I wanted to hang out around your place for a bit."

"Are you staying for dinner?" Luca asked excitedly.

"Uh, probably. And I wanted to talk to your mom and dad. Ask them something. So let's grab some ice cream and go, okay?"

"Sounds good to me. You're the coolest uncle."

"Yeah, I know. Try not to rub it in your other uncles' faces though. We don't want to make them feel bad." Luca laughed.

"I like all of my uncles."

"Good. We can just leave it at that."

"Besides, you're not Reese's favorite uncle." Khary gasped in dismay.

"I'm not?! Is it Damon?"

"Nope. Uncle Fred. 'Cause he buys her sports memorabilia and stuff, for one thing. They geek out together."

"But Fred's not your favorite? Even though he buys you comic books?"

"I only kinda like comic books. I like hanging out with you. I dunno… Feels like you get me."

Khary smiled, but he was hiding sadness. If his nephew thought that they "got" each other, what sort of turmoil was Luca going through?

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Did you mean right now?"

"Whenever you want to, Luca. About whatever you want to."

"Uh…" That was a lot of pressure on Luca.

"Reese has a game tomorrow," the tween finally said, "so I'm excited about that."

"That's cool, I'll try to come to that."

"Reese is really good," Luca said, "I'm proud of her."

"I bet she's proud of you too." Luca shrugged.

"I dunno. I think she kind of sometimes forgets about me? Like if I'm not directly in front of her." Luca chuckled a little. Khary winced.

"That's rough."

"No it's fine, I have other friends."

"Yeah? What're your friends like?"

"Well, I'm friends with Addison and Sara, from the basketball team, and Scout's my best friend, probably, he's on the football team? Then there's Emmie and Angela who are both really smart, and Angela is super good at makeup, I think she's going to show me how to use it. Oh and Duncan and Axel from the drama cult and Uriah, Mackenzie, Sergio, Lola, Francis, Zack, Spencer, Ramona, Marigold, Sadie Beth, Azumi, Eiko, Charles, Hunter one and Hunter two, David, Eliza, Parker, Gwendolyn, Zach, Summer, Bethany, Tristen, Owen, Elijah, Megan, Lily, Benjamin and Bennett, Ilsa, Carlos, Nova, and Hadley. There are more but I can't think of them off the top of my head."

"You said Zac twice."

"Yean Zach with an H and Zack with a K."

"That's, wow, that's a lot of friends. You two haven't been here that long."

"No, we haven't. I guess I just sit with people, and we become friends. I don't know..."

"And, not that I don't believe you, each of them would call you their friend? Like you know stuff about all of them?"

"Of course I do. Pick one."

"Oh, okay, tell me about Hunter two."

"Okay, Hunter two is another one of my best friends. His dad is a redneck, which explains the name, but Hunter two wants to go into dance and doesn't know how to tell his dad that he doesn't like what his father considers traditional masculine things."

"Some people never get past the boxes they put their children in," Khary muttered, thinking about his mother.

"Yeah. I'm glad mom and dad don't expect me or Reese to be like them."

"You are a lot like your parents in some ways though," Khary pointed out, "Okay. What about Sadie Beth? What's her story?"

"She's remarkably intelligent but worries about flunking science because she's got a short attention span like I do sometimes."

"Interesting. What about Nova?"

"They won't eat any animal products and frequently protests animal testing and cruelty. They're super cool."

"Scout?"

"Like I said, he's like my best friend other than Reese, he's on the football team and wants to write children's books when he grows up, though he's unsure if he wants to bring children into the world himself because of his home life."

"That's too bad about his home life. But you clearly know a lot about your friends. I'm sorry I doubted you."

"It's okay, Uncle Khary."

"Do your friends know a lot about you? Do you open up to them?" Luca kind of shrugged. They had reached the ice cream parlor so Khary didn't push it, but he wanted his nephew to be as important to his friends as they were to Luca. He didn't realize that Luca wanted the same thing.

"Does Reese have a lot of friends?"

"Reese has her team, and any of my friends if she ever chose to interact with them, which she doesn't. That's what makes her happy, I think. Having her team at school and her team, us, at home… I don't want to push her to make more friends than she's ready for."

"I understand. The best thing your dad ever did for me, other than take me in and make me feel loved, was let me open up and grow at my own pace."

"Everyone is waiting for me to open up. After the incident, everything's just… They want an explanation and I just want to keep moving."

"I understand, buddy."

"Thanks, Uncle Khary. For the ice cream and uh, the understanding."

"You're welcome."

Luca didn't know what Uncle Khary talked to his parents about after dinner that night, though Reese shared all of her wild speculations with him. When they got up to head to school the next morning though, their uncle was asleep on the couch.

* * *

**I had a lot of fun giving Luca a ridiculous number of friends, I think I listed 40? Only a handful of them are actually important but I think it's funny that this insecure kid doesn't realize that he's the king of middle school.**


	9. Reunion

**BH6 reunion, huzzah!**

* * *

The Lucky Cat Cafe was still for just a few moments before it once again became a hub of activity after closing time. Hiro and his wife were already there, Hiro helping his Aunt prepare for the rest of the cast and Karmi resting her feet, seven months pregnant with their daughter. The Tomagos arrived next, always punctual for one reason or another. Wasabi arrived straight from work still in his suit from teaching. GoGo had also dressed up a little but the kids and Khary were in their normal attire. For Khary, normal attire meant jeans and a t-shirt, though his outfits could get a little extra depending on how method he was getting in his roles.

"Khary! I didn't know you were coming!" Aunt Cass, always full of love, threw her arms around him, and he hugged back with a smile.

"I didn't mean to crash your party, but I'm staying with Wasabi and GoGo for a bit. I was staying with my girlfriend and she changed the locks on me when she got with our landlord." He glanced left as if that wasn't the only reason, but Cass was too stunned to realize.

"I'm so sorry to hear about that," Cass said, putting her hand over her mouth. Khary laughed sadly.

"Yeah it's fine, she made it clear what kind of person I was with and I feel like I dodged a bullet." GoGo and Wasabi were talking but looked up when Fred and Honey Lemon came in. Fred dropped Honey Lemon's hand when they entered the cafe and GoGo and Wasabi exchanged a look. Fred rushed over to Khary and threw his arms around him.

"You're acting like you didn't see me like, recently," Khary laughed, totally not jealous or upset that Fred was Reese's favorite uncle.

"It's still good to see you, man."

"Say my name," Khary said with a laugh. Fred laughed too, embarrassed.

"Nah, you never liked it."

"No, no, my niece and nephew live in San Fransokyo now, it's time they know how stupid of a nickname you gave me when we first met."

"If we're being fair-"

"Which we're not," Khary interjected.

"-I tried out several other nicknames that didn't stick."

"Say it." Reese and Luca looked at Fred, curious. Fred facepalmed a little, embarrassed whenever he came up with a nickname that didn't stick, or one that did stick and was terrible. Just like how Karmi was embarrassed about dubbing her future husband Captain Cutie and some people were embarrassed about how quirky OwO random their Percy Jackson OCs were in 2012.

"It's not that bad," Fred mentioned.

"Say it."

"It really isn't that bad."

"It's stupid and you know it, say it."

"Hamlet," Fred mumbled.

"I've never even been in a production of Hamlet," Khary said, laughing.

"That might change," Fred pointed out.

"I'm deliberately going to make sure it never does."

"Stop giving Freddy a hard time," Honey Lemon said with a laugh, giving Reese and Luca a hug.

"Dinner will be ready in a minute, guys," Aunt Cass called.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry we didn't bring anything to help with the meal," Wasabi quickly apologized.

"Wesley, I like feeding you guys, don't worry about a thing," Cass assured. She was the only one- save for GoGo and Damon occasionally, and his students who mostly just called him Professor Tomago or Mr. Tomago- who still called him Wesley. Sometimes Reese and Luca forgot that their dad had a real name. Neither of them let nicknames be made for them, though Reese didn't mind being called her jersey number in basketball or soccer and Luca sometimes let his friends call him Tomago as long as they promised not to also call his sister Tomago, which was never a problem. Also, sometimes people who knew his uncle called him Mini-Khary, but he didn't mind that.

"Thanks, Cass." Wasabi gave the older woman a hug, his smile relieved and overjoyed.

"Everyone grab a seat! Except for you, Hiro, I need you to help me serve."

"No problem, Aunt Cass," Hiro said with a smile.

Reese and Luca were talking amongst themselves while the food was getting put down.

"I'm almost ungrounded," Reese pointed out.

"Ah, you had basketball and sleepovers, you were barely grounded."

"That's not a fair assessment. I was just saying that I could use my ungrounded status to like, get you things. Like, sneak them out from the outside world. Like a spy or a smuggler. Like Han Solo." Luca burst into laughter.

"Okay, Solo. You be my one contact with the outside world."

GoGo and Fred were talking in hushed tones. Fred put a hand over his mouth in surprise.

"I'm so sorry GoGo I didn't realize that I might've given Luca inappropriate comic books."

"It's okay, just be more mindful." Khary overheard and did not mention some of the musicals he'd listened to with Reese and Luca.

Khary and Karmi were talking about her baby while Hiro finished serving and came back to her.

"So you can't tell us her name?" Khary asked.

"No, but our little dragon has one picked out already."

"Well, I for one can't wait to meet her, Karmi. You're going to be a wonderful mother, I just know it."

"Thanks, Khary. I heard about your girlfriend, I'm so sorry."

Khary held up a hand to stop her, "It's nothing, the heart goes on."

"So, Reese, Luca, you're turning thirteen soon, right? What're your big plans?" Cass asked.

"We're not having a party this year," Reese said with a shrug.

"Yeah? Why not?"

"Well, we were going to invite all of our friends, and then that list got super, super long," Reese began.

"And then mom and dad suggested that we just have it with our mutual friends, and that list got super short. So we're just gonna go do something as a family. Maybe drive up to Berkeley and see Uncle Damon and Aunt Crystal and Beckett and Wyatt," Luca finished.

"That'll be fun," Reese commented.

"Well, be sure to come in around near your birthday and I'll hook you up with some cupcakes," Cass promised.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Wasabi said quickly.

"It's my pleasure, don't worry about it!"

"What're you guys getting for your birthday?" Fred asked, nudging Reese in the arm.

"A camera," Luca said excitedly.

"I don't know. I kind of want a dog."

"Oh no no no. I'm super allergic to dogs," Wasabi said.

"Can we have a fish?" Luca asked.

"Uh, maybe."

"Or, no, a turtle!" Reese suggested.

"We'll talk about this later," Wasabi said, "let's eat."

The conversations and fun lasted late into the night, Reese and Luca falling asleep against each other before the night was over. Wasabi and Khary took them to the car and they drove home following the reunion. Everyone noticed that, just as they had arrived, Honey Lemon and Fred left together.


	10. Washing Dishes

**I love this chapter. All of a sudden I was hit with inspiration and I'm super super excited about it (It's a good bit down the line, though) and I got to start setting that up in this chapter that I was already looking forward to writing. As of the update, I have dropped slightly more hints about the Khary Arc, but only a few.**

**Anyway, Enjoy!**

* * *

Khary and Wasabi were working on the dishes, having put it off until later in the night. Khary had eagerly been doing whatever his big brother wanted, grateful for a place to crash away from Good Luck Alley while he was looking for a new apartment he could afford. Wasabi was happy to help his brother out but it was also nice to have another helping hand, especially when Khary helped out the twins. The brothers were quiet for a bit, the day having drained both of them, but Khary couldn't help bring up something he remembered.

"The other day when you sent me out for groceries I ran into dad." Khary brought this up casually but it wasn't a casual conversation.

"Oh. Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah, for a bit. I didn't bring up you and GoGo and the kids though, I didn't know if they knew you were back in San Fransokyo."

"They do not."

"And I guess you're not going to tell them?" Khary asked.

"That's the plan. Thanks for your discretion."

"Of course, bro. I wouldn't spill your secrets. I was kind of wondering about that, though. I thought you and dad were on okay terms last time you talked. Wasn't he there, when the twins were born?"

"Almost 13 years ago? Yeah, we invited him, he was there."

"So what changed? Don't you want him in Reese and Luca's lives?" Reese and Luca were in their room doing homework before bed, so they didn't hear any of this.

"As far as my kids are concerned, they don't have grandparents. You and Damon can see them as you please, Wyatt and Beckett can have a grandpa and grandma if that's what Damon wants. But mom and dad are not a part of my family anymore."

"I'm sorry to ask, but I don't understand. I don't forgive mom for the anxiety or the neglect or the pressure but I think dad loves us, I think he always has and just didn't know how to show it."

"I think he loves us too," Wasabi said with a sigh, a deep frown on his face, his arms elbow-deep in soapy bubbles while he scrubbed a dish even harder than he had before.

"Then why don't Reese and Luca know about him?"

"Because he loves mom. Because he knows that she belittled my mental health, put incredible pressure on me growing up, and has never been a good mom to any of us and he stayed with her. He backed her up. It's fine if he chose his wife over his kids but that means I'm choosing my family over him." Khary sighed.

"That makes sense."

"I fully support you if you want to keep him in your life, and even if you want to keep mom in your life. But I'm not going back to them. I took Leiko's last name for a reason. Not because I wanted to disconnect myself from you or Damon but because I wanted to be separate from them."

"I definitely won't tell them you're in the city, and I know Damon won't either. We've got your back, Wasabi."

"Good. I've got your back."

"So we're doing the same thing for Thanksgiving, right?"

"Yep, we're driving up to Berkeley because Damon has the space for all of us."

"And Christmas?"

"Something like that."

"And the twin's birthday?"

"What can I say? Driving up to Berkeley is a popular option."

"How's the house search? Maybe you could host Thanksgiving next year if you find a place. You used to host it in Berkeley. You are the only one here who can cook worth anything."

"GoGo can cook."

"Not as good as you, but you're right."

"I could teach you to cook, and Luca is learning."

"Sure, I'd learn how to cook. It might be good for me when I'm on my own. Which will be soon I hope, no offense."

"None taken. I'm happy to help in any way that I can. I can't get you your own place since we're looking for a new house ourselves, but you're welcome to crash on the couch for as long as you need. And hey, maybe Fred could give you a hand."

"He's totally dating Honey Lemon, right?" Khary asked out of nowhere. Wasabi laughed.

"You noticed it too?"

"Everyone's noticed it. Even Reese. And Reese doesn't notice romantic stuff. They're not subtle." Wasabi laughed again.

"I don't want to get in their business but I'm sooo close to confronting him about it. I don't know why they would hide that. They've clearly liked each other for years. They really aren't subtle."

"I bet this is how everyone felt about you and GoGo before you started dating." Wasabi chuckled in surprise, Khary was probably right.

"Maybe, who knows? Man… Maybe all of us will get our happy endings."

"I'm already happy, I don't need anything more," Khary whispered, looking at his brother. This family he had, it was enough. It was almost enough.

"I'm really proud of you, you know that?" Wasabi asked, beaming at his brother.

Khary flinched and blushed, looking away, "Thanks… I'm proud of you too."

"Thanks, kiddo…" Khary blushed again.

"I'm not a kiddo, I'm an adult." Wasabi looked at his brother and laughed.

"You're still my little brother. I'm still going to protect you." Khary fell silent, thinking about everything that Wasabi couldn't protect him from.

"You always have. Thank you. I'll try to let you know if I need protecting."

"You can tell me anything, bro."

Khary laughed, not telling him everything, "I know. I think I'm going to hit the couch after this, go to bed early. I have stuff to do tomorrow."

"Well, I have things to grade, but I'll do it in the bedroom. I'll let you get some rest."

"Thanks, Wasabi." When the dishes were done, Khary flopped down on the couch and turned the lights off. But when the house was still and no one was watching, he slipped out the front door. He was back on the couch by morning, still trying his best to make his brother proud.


	11. Birthday BBQ

**Hey guys! I'm back from an impromptu hiatus! What I have been doing is editing and re-uploading chapters of Family Dinner for a kind of 2020 update, so check that out if you want to.**

**I also might be working on a collab, so keep your eyes out for more information about that. Wingmen. Brainyxbat. Go read that because I'm so proud of it.**

**I hope to update more frequently and also publish a bunch of new stories this year!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

* * *

The day was supposed to entirely be about Reese and Luca, but neither of them would stand for the attention to be 100% on them. So Reese was shooting baskets with her older cousin Beckett, Luca was interrogating his younger cousin Wyatt, and the Ginger brothers stood around talking and watching the next generation run around and have fun. Luca was using his new camera, and Reese had a promise of a pet and a basketball goal when they moved into a new place. She would get that turtle. She hadn't wanted anything else, and neither had Luca, but they'd both gotten some new clothes and candy as well.

Reese and Luca could be a real handful but they didn't ask for much. They didn't need to, Wasabi always tried to give them what they needed and rewarded good behavior with what they wanted. He never wanted them to be afraid to ask for things. He never wanted to tell his kids that money doesn't grow on trees, because he didn't want to make them think, as he, Damon, and Khary had, that they had to be self-reliant. If his kids ever thought that they couldn't go to him or GoGo for help then they'd have failed as parents. And he wasn't going to let himself fail.

"Beck and Wy doing good?" Wasabi asked, standing back and watching his nephews and his kids goof off and have fun. He and Damon were grilling hamburgers and Khary was going between them and the ladies and helping where he could.

"Oh yeah. High school is antagonizing Beckett a bit, but he's a really smart, good kid, so I'm not too worried about him. Plus, me and Crystal are always here to help him out, and he's going to see his dad over fall break."

"Cool. Tell him that if he has any questions that you and Crystal can't answer about homework that Uncle Wes and Aunt Leiko are always happy to help."

"Will do. Oh, and Khary, you've got to talk to Wyatt. He's playing the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz and he was wondering if you could give him any tips."

"I'd love to give him tips," Khary said, beaming with pride, "when he and Luca are done catching up." Wyatt and Luca were messing around on the trampoline, trying to out-backflip each other. Of course, the best part was that neither of them knew how to do a backflip.

"Be careful!" Wasabi shouted at his son and nephew, "you're not getting another concussion on your birthday, young man!"

"We are being careful!" Luca shouted back, nearly falling off the trampoline at that exact second.

Wasabi sighed and smiled tiredly, "Wow, thirteen… I can't believe it. I love them so much..." At one point in his life, growing up had been painful, each year a panicked reminder that he was broken. His friendships, especially with Leiko, had been crucial, but he'd still had to fight to survive under the unbearable pressure to be normal. Now things weren't so hard and, because he'd fought to survive, he got to watch his own kids grow up and face the world.

"Your birthday was pretty recent too," Damon commented since Wasabi had turned 37 last week.

"I guess so. I don't really think about that kind of thing. We went out for dinner but I didn't ask for anything since we're saving money for a house and a turtle."

"Well, I got you something anyway," Damon said with a smirk.

"Ah, shoot, I should've gotten you something, I'm sorry," Khary said quickly, and Wasabi shot him a look.

"Khary, you staying with me and trusting me enough to bring me all your problems is enough of a present." Khary smiled but his smile seemed pained.

"Don't feel too bad, Khary, all I got him was a gift card." Damon tossed Wasabi a gift card for his favorite yarn store.

"Thanks, Damon. I appreciate it." They fist-bumped before Damon abandoned the hamburgers to race over to Wyatt, who had fallen off the trampoline. Wasabi watched his older brother lovingly scoop up the ten-year-old and take care of the small injuries that had appeared. Luca, a little embarrassed he'd let his cousin get hurt, slunk over to his mom and aunt and began helping them with the rest of the meal prep. When Wyatt was back on his feet, he joined his older brother and Reese at the basketball goal, talking excitedly about potential names for Reese's future turtle. All of them really liked the name Speedy.

Before they could go home, the car loaded up with all their things and the little gifts Damon and Crystal and their cousins got the twins, Damon pulled Khary aside, a serious look on his face.

"What's up?" Khary asked, immediately worried.

"I got a call the other day."

"Huh?"

"I got a call from someone, his name was A something, who was trying to reach you. I'm not even going to ask you what that's about because I can tell you probably don't want to tell me, and it's your life. But if something's going on, you need to get it in order, and if you need help, you need to tell me or Wasabi or someone. We will help you, we love you. But what if Wasabi had gotten that phone call? Or Crystal or Leiko or one of our kids? I don't want you to put yourself or anyone in this family in danger, alright?" Khary was clearly very shaken by this.

"A-alright."

"Take care of yourself, okay? I love you."

"I love you too."

"Then treat yourself right. You're an amazing young man. I'm so incredibly proud of you, but you can't just take risks without letting people in on what's going on with you."

"I'll talk to Wasabi if anything gets too out of hand."

"I don't want things getting out of hand at all, Khary. Be careful."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too. Now stop making them wait for you and tell them to drive safe."

"That's the only way Wasabi drives," Khary joked.

"Get out of here, kiddo." Khary left, climbing into the middle seat in the car and letting his niece and nephew fall asleep against him as they headed home, having a lot to think about as they drove. Not voicing any of his concerns.

* * *

**So, uh, art imitates life? That phone call? Based on a real phone call I got from someone trying to reach my brother. Twice. Scared the crap out of me, so I had to write about it.**


	12. Luca's Table

**Luca's inexplicable popularity and Reese's surprising vulnerability are two of my favorite things to write, and though the story has been more focused on the adults recently, and it will go back and forth between them, I really like this chapter. I hope you do too.**

* * *

Reese Renee Tomago had had a sucky, sucky day. She wasn't really allowed to say suck or sucks or sucky but her mom wasn't a psychic spy going undercover at San Fransokyo Public Middle School so Reese wasn't very worried about being punished for her inner monologue. Besides, no grounding or chores could be worse than the day she'd been having.

She just wanted to sit with her support system at lunch, whether that was Sara and Addison or Luca, she didn't care. But when she walked into the cafeteria after a morning full of exams and headache-inducing teachers she was slightly surprised to see that those two support systems were squished together. Sara and Addison were sitting at Luca's table, on his right side, and Reese quickly sat across from them in the only spare spot at Luca's table, next to some muscled blond football player.

It was, no doubt, Luca's table. Without meaning to, without even trying, Luca Justus Tomago was King of SFPMS. And under King Luca's decree, the theatre cultists, softball state champions, and football bros were all scrunched together at the same table. Sara, basketball legend, sat on Luca's right. On Luca's left was Angela from the debate team, immediately next to Angela was her on and off boyfriend, Duncan from the drama cult. They'd met because of Luca. Luca's so-called best friend Scout was across from him, and Reese sat down next to the football player, across from her teammates.

Luca immediately lit up, "Guys, this is my twin sister, Reese! And before anyone asks, yes, she's the older twin, and yes, her hair is cooler than mine." Luca's hyena pack of friends laughed and some of them introduced themselves, the burly football player to her right shaking her hand with an almost hand-shattering handshake.

"Luca told us you played basketball, like Sara and Addison," a pretty Japanese girl who had introduced herself as Azumi said.

"Uh, yeah." Reese was kind of wilting under all the attention.

"She's really good," Luca said after taking a bite of his lunch, chewing, and swallowing.

"Um, yeah, I um, I've been playing since I was five…" Reese muttered. She hadn't had to endure the onslaught of Luca's endless circle of friends before, and it was making her really uncomfortable. There had to be a thousand conversations going on at this table, so why did one of them have to center around her?

"She's one of the best players on our team," Addison praised before adding, "other than me and Sara." Now Reese laughed a little, her throat feeling tight. They were right, they were a little better.

"Do you do art too? Like your brother?" Reese scrambled to remember the name of the guy who had asked her that. Was it one of the Hunters? Or one of the Zacs? No, it was the new guy, Shane, maybe? Some artsy type with dark hair, shaggy emo hair, and tanned skin

"No, I'm not creative," she answered simply. Luca's team laughed again, and Reese squirmed at their laughter. Were they making fun of her? Did they think she was joking? She wasn't joking.

"Yeah, she got the lion's share of the athletics and I got the arts. Unfortunately, no one inherited the academics." More laughter. Luca was so smooth, so natural when it came to talking to his friends. And he knew every single one of their names. She didn't know anyone's name outside of her team. The names washed over her, making her feel like she was drowning. She tried to talk to Sara and Addison about their upcoming game but she couldn't hear herself over all the names. At least his friends had gone back to their own chit chat, talking so loud that Reese felt like she couldn't focus or breathe.

So Reese retreated inside of her, ignoring Luca's hoards when they attempted once more to talk to her. When she couldn't ignore them anymore she got up and walked out of the cafeteria, into the tiny, empty, safe little courtyard where she and her brother had eaten on the first day of school. They'd been the new kids then, they'd only had each other. Now only Reese still felt new, still felt disconnected from the other students, outside of her team. She sat down on the ground and tried to focus on something other than how incredibly loud they all had been, with their laughter and their names. How their eyes had stared through her. She felt worthless, unimportant, and out of place with her brother's friends.

The air was chilly but fresh, and she could breathe in solitude. She wished she hadn't had to run from her team but she would've suffocated inside had she stayed. Still, her day had been so incredibly frustrating and now, to feel out of place with her own brother… She was close to tears and she was not one to cry. She pulled her knees to her chest and put her head on top of them, not noticing someone come sit next to her until Luca put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey. You don't have to sit with my friends if it makes you uncomfortable. I get that there are a lot of them and I'm sorry if you felt excluded, or included, or whatever." He offered her a confident smile, trying to give her the strength he had for the moment.

"I just… Sometimes we used to sit alone and those days are nice, too…" Reese mumbled.

"Yeah, they are." He sat with her until lunch was over, always willing to put the needs of his very best friend over anyone else. He would return to his place as King soon enough. But not today. Not when Reese needed him.


	13. Halloween Parties

**Oh, Halloween, awesome!**

* * *

"Dad I know I'm still grounded for a little while longer but can I go to a Halloween party with my friends?" Luca asked at breakfast, a few days before Halloween. Wasabi looked down at his son, who was utilizing his puppy dog eyes effectively.

"Hold on a minute buddy, let's think this through. Who's going to the party?"

"It's at Scout's house, so all the football players and a lot of the people I sit with at lunch."

"Reese? Were you invited to this party?" Wasabi asked.

"I was invited, but they're having a team party after practice the same night, so I thought I could just pack my costume and go to that."

"Oh. Okay, well you needed to ask me about that but I think it sounds fine. Leiko! Can the kids go to their Halloween parties?" Wasabi called across the house.

"Sure but they need a curfew!" GoGo responded.

"Alright, you're good to go but be back at 11. Luca, we're making an exception this time because you've been cooperating with us and because your grounding is almost over."

"Thanks, dad! Thanks, mom!" Luca and Reese high fived, talking excitedly about their respective Halloween parties. Wasabi was a little sad that the years of taking them around trick-or-treating were over. He envied Damon who had graduated from trick-or-treating with his 17-year-old but still had a 10-year-old to have fun traditions with. He and GoGo would be here, dressing up, handing out candy, and watching old horror movies that weren't actually scary. He'd invited Khary to join him for the spooky movies but Khary apparently already had plans. So it would just be him and GoGo, which was the opposite of a problem.

Since Reese's party was right after practice she took a quick shower and changed into her costume. The boys' basketball team joined them for the evening, as well as a couple of other stragglers who had been invited by someone. Probably Addison. Addison liked everyone. So there were some people that Reese didn't recognize, some people, miraculously, that didn't know Luca Tomago was her brother. There were too many expectations placed on her at school when she was Luca's sister, so she didn't mind the anonymity.

"I don't get your costume," someone commented, looking her over.

"I'm Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls."

"...Doesn't she have a brother?" Someone from the guys' basketball team asked.

"Yeah, my brother is dressed up as Dipper. He's just not here. That wasn't gonna stop us from dressing up together. We always dress up together."

"What if you were in college in a different state from him? Would you dress up with him then?"

"Yeah. Obviously."

"Who's your brother?"

"Dipper Pines."

"I meant in real life."

"Oh, Luca."

"Luca Tomago?"

"Yeah."

"No freaking way. Like twins?"

"Yeah, that's why we dress up together."

"Cool."

"Reese! Come get snacks!" Addison called from the kitchen and Reese was saved from that conversation, wondering how things were going for the "cooler" twin.

"Isn't that supposed to be like a duo costume?" One of Luca's new friends, Zayne, asked him.

"Yeah, my sister is wearing the other half. She's at the basketball team party."

"It's kinda weird just walking around in half a costume."

"Nah," Luca said, though he believed Zayne, "I look cool."

"Heck yeah you do," Hunter two said, giving him a high five. Hunter two looked cool too, dressed as a genderbent Elsa.

"Why didn't you dress up, Zayne?" Hunter two asked. Zayne was wearing his normal dark, edgy clothes and he wilted under the criticism, though his words stuck in Luca's brain.

"Where's the other Hunter?" Zayne grumbled, stalking away.

"Why's he your friend?" Hunter two muttered, bouncing on his tiptoes.

"He's new here, he deserves a chance, and he's a really good artist."

"Yeah, that's fine. I just think he's not gonna be a lot of fun at this party."

"That's okay though because we'll have our own fun. Let's find Angela and Sadie Beth. I saw them come in earlier but I haven't gotten the chance to talk to them. Also, did you see Nova's costume? They're wearing a morph suit? It's crazy cool."

"...Luca? Man to man? Is my outfit cool?"

"Oh, what? Absolutely!"

"I'm gonna have to change before I go home because my dad will think it's stupid but Frozen's like my favorite movie and-"

"You don't have to make any excuses Hunter, you look awesome." Hunter one had agreed to dress up as genderbent Anna and join up with them later. Until then they found Angela and Sadie Beth, who were Pam Beasly (with Duncan as Jim) and Minnie Mouse respectively. Scout, the host of the party, had dressed up as Greg from Over The Garden Wall, with a little metal kettle on his head and green overalls. Everyone's costumes were crazy good. Except Luca doubted his own a bit now, wishing that Reese were here.

He didn't exactly get his wish, but she did text him sometime after Monster Mash had played.

"Send me a pic of your costume for my teammates to see."

Marigold, who was wearing a skeleton onesie, took his picture and Luca sent it to Reese, requesting the same.

Apparently, Sara was the one to take Reese's picture because he received a text a few moments later: "This is Sara, Reese left her phone with me let me show you around the party."

For the next few minutes, Luca and the small crowd of costumed middle schoolers around him got a peek at the basketball party, culminating in the best thing Luca had ever seen.

"Oh my gosh Luca, Reese did karaoke for Get'cha Head In The Game, and she knows all of the choreography. Sending along the video."

"We're having karaoke at the next bash," Scout decided after they'd watched the video of Reese belting out High School Musical three times.

"It's cool that your parents are letting you throw this party."

"They're not around much… They're not around... And I haven't seen my older brother in a week."

"You're all alone?" Luca asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess, but it's okay…"

"No, that's not okay Scout, someone's got to take care of you-" Scout looked like he was going to say something before they got interrupted.

"Hey, Luca! Come here!" Zayne called from the living room, where they were cleaning up a mummy wrapping game.

"This party's a bust," Zayne said, looking around and kicking a strand of toilet paper and running a hand through his dark, shaggy hair.

"No, it's not," Luca argued.

"Whatever. Let's get out of here, man. We can TP a house or two. I know where Ms. Denver lives."

"Why would we TP our art teacher's house? I like her. Why don't you like her?"

"She's a jerk. She's stifling. I can't be creative in her class."

"She's not mean, Zayne, she's just trying to teach us one way to be creative. She's not trying to stop you from being creative in your own way unless you're doing something that's against the standards of the school…" Luca tried to explain.

"Whatever, you wouldn't get it, she likes you. I'm leaving."

"Zayne, hold on. You realize that if you walk out that door, you can still sit with us at lunch. And you can still be my friend, even if you leave right now. And if you go to Ms. Denver's house and do something bad… You can still be my friend then, too. You'll have to deal with the consequences, but one of those consequences won't be losing me. You're my friend, Zayne. Take care of yourself."

Zayne smiled a little, "Yeah okay. Your costume is still weird."

After Zayne left Luca got another text from Reese, "Got my phone back. Please delete that video. How's the party?"

"Good. Someone called my costume weird though."

"Your costume is so cool. I have next year's picked out, too."

"You want to be Ryan and Sharpay from High School Musical?" He had to laugh as he texted.

"Please for the love of humanity delete that video."

"Not gonna happen, sis."

"Sara's mom is gonna be there to pick you up after she picks us up, prob 30 min."

"Got it, see you in a bit, Mabel."

Luca began to say his goodbyes to the remaining guests, distributing a lot of high fives, hugs, and last-minute pictures. When he got to Scout he implored the athlete to consider reaching out to someone if he needed help. Scout looked uncomfortably with the notion, but he nodded.

"You've got my number dude. If you need someone, just call. Happy Halloween."

"Happy Halloween, Luca. I'm sure that Andrew will be back soon. But I'll think about it, I promise…"

"If he's not… You know what you can do."

"I'll remember."

"Sorry I couldn't help clean up but I think my ride's here."

"It's okay, dude. I'll see you at school."

"See you!" Luca ran out.

"Dude, your costume is sick," Sara complimented, decked out in a dragon costume herself, the headpiece sitting in her lap.

"So is yours," he returned the compliment as well as a fist bump, climbing into the back with his sister.

When they reached their apartment they shared a glance and agreed about what needed to be done. They rang the doorbell.

Inside, half-asleep while Frankenstein played in the background, Wasabi and GoGo jumped to their feet to greet the next wave of trick-or-treaters, and grinned when they saw their kids.

"Trick-or-treat!" Luca and Reese declared in unison.

"You two can come in for your candy. How were the parties? Were your costumes a success?" Wasabi interrogated them.

"Good, and yeah."

"Do you guys want to see the video of Reese doing karaoke that Sara sent me?" Luca asked with a laugh.

"Are you ever going to delete that?"

"Probably not."

It was just the four of them that night, since Khary busy with plans, until Luca got a phone call around midnight and four became five.

* * *

**I too was a solo Dipper on Halloween. My cousin was supposed to dress up with me but she wore an animal onesie instead. Which is actually a very Mabel thing to do.**

**Because I figured I'd get comments of, oh, who's the phone call from, I just went ahead and wrote the next chapter, which will be up shortly. Enjoy!**


	14. Boys' Day

**Update update update**

* * *

Sundays started early in the Tomago household. On November 1st, Sunday started with an interrogation.

Luca hopped up on one of the stools at the counter, where Scout was sitting and Wasabi was lightly grilling him.

"So you've been on your own for a week now?"

"Yes sir, essentially. Andrew left about eight days ago and didn't come back."

"And you didn't call the police?"

"No, sir."

"What about your parents?"

"They're not around much, sir."

"But could they have any idea where Andrew is?"

"I don't think so, sir. They're in prison, sir. But Andrew isn't like them. He hates them." Luca listened, silent but supportive, his hand on Scout's shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Scout, do you want me to call you Scout?"

"That's my real name, sir."

"Okay, just making sure. Scout, it might be best if I called Child Protective Services. They could help you."

"No sir, please…" Scout sounded scared, and the strong hand on his shoulder slipped down to his hand, squeezing it. Scout squeezed back, terrified. His grip was stronger than Luca's, as he often tackled people twice Luca's size in the legal combat known as football.

"My family might have its shortcomings, sir, but they're my family, and that's my home… Please, sir…"

"Okay, I have an idea. Boys get dressed and ready to go." Luca didn't question his dad, he just went to get ready. Scout had thrown some things in a bag and went to go change in the bathroom after Luca changed.

"Luca, don't bring your camera today. If it gets misplaced we can't get you a new one until Christmas." Luca nodded and grabbed a sketchbook instead.

"Where are we going, sir?" Scout asked nervously.

"First we're getting breakfast. Then we're going to look for your brother. If we don't find him today, I think I know a place where you can stay for a while."

A few minutes later, they pulled up at the Lucky Cat Cafe.

"What is this place? I've never been here."

"It's like the best bakery ever," Luca explained, waving hello to Aunt Cass.

"Scout, do you like cinnamon rolls?" Wasabi asked and Scout nodded.

"Hello, Cass, three cinnamon rolls, a coffee and two, orange juice, Scout?"

"Yes, sir."

"Two orange juices."

"Coming right up!"

Scout and Luca sat down and rearranged the sugar packets while Wasabi talked to Cass and waited for their food. After a few minutes, the two adults came over.

"Scout, this is Cass Hamada."

"Hello, ma'am, it's nice to meet you," Scout said with a smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Scout."

"Cass said that if we couldn't find your brother today you could stay with her for a while. If we had a little more space we would want you staying with us but right now that's not feasible."

"That's okay," he turned to Cass, "Thank you, ma'am." Scout was a little nervous, still fiddling with the sugar packets. She put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and then went to go get their cinnamon rolls.

"I know you're probably very nervous right now, Scout. I know what it's like to be scared and on your own. Cass Hamada helped me out when I was younger and needed someone on my side. And if things don't work out with your brother, or here, I will find a way to help you, okay, Scout?"

"Yeah, you're part of our family too now," Luca chimed in.

"Thank you," Scout said shyly, looking down, "I don't deserve your kindness."

"Everyone deserves kindness, no matter what they've done or where they come from," Luca said decidedly. Wasabi beamed at his son before turning to Scout.

"Do you have any idea where Andrew might be?"

"Yeah, sometimes he hangs around Good Luck Alley." Wasabi felt the blood rush out of his face.

"Okay. Khary has a show down there, maybe he knows something. We'll go to Good Luck Alley, but you're both staying in the car."

"Yes sir," Scout agreed. He really didn't like Good Luck Alley. He hated that his older brother was spending time there.

"Thank you again, Cass, I'll let you know about Scout's situation, well, when I know more about Scout's situation."

"Don't worry about it. I'm happy to help whoever needs me."

"I knew you would be. And I think this boy may need a lot of help." Luca and Scout were talking about their plans for the next Halloween party, or maybe a Christmas party, or New Year's Eve. Wasabi let them dream but he did worry for Luca's friend. He and GoGo knew about coming from bad families.

"Okay boys, here's the rules about Good Luck Alley. You stay in the car, it shouldn't be too warm or too cold but I'm leaving the keys and you can roll down the windows a little bit if there's a problem. Stay in the car, oh, and hold these." Wasabi distributed box cutters from the glove compartment.

"Why do you have two box cutters?" Luca wondered.

"Because I have two children," Wasabi said without blinking, clambering out of his car, locking it, and searching for someone's brother, his or Scout's, or, optimally, both.

Wasabi had good instincts when it came to finding Khary. He couldn't always be what his brother needed, but he would always try to be there. And it wasn't that hard, walk towards the theatre and he'd find the performer. He held onto a picture that Scout had been able to provide him of Andrew and wondered what the odds were that Khary knew the slightly younger man. And, though Wasabi didn't want to think about it, what were the odds that someone in Good Luck Alley wasn't up to something that, well, would mean bad luck for Scout.

"I hate it here," Scout blurted after a minute of processing his nerves.

"Good Luck Alley?"

"Yeah. It's more like Bad Choice Alley."

"My uncle works near here," Luca said absently, grabbing his sketchbook from the seat, "but let's not think about where we are. Let's play a game. We'll make a story. I'll draw a picture, then you draw a picture, and we'll make up a story with whatever we create together. Okay? Sound good?" Scout wanted to make a living writing children's books, and Luca knew that.

"Yeah."

Wasabi had only left the kids for ten minutes when he ran straight into Khary, who jumped back when he saw his big brother and looked around in panic.

"Wasabi, what are you doing here? Is it Reese or Luca? Are they okay?"

"It's not about the kids, it's about their friend, Scout. He has a brother who is said to hang around here. Andrew Burks. You know him?" Khary looked a little uncomfortable, not making eye contact.

"The name doesn't ring a bell."

"How about the picture?" Wasabi pressed, showing Khary what he had on hand.

"No, I don't know him. Wes, I don't think you should be out here, it's not safe."

"We're not starting that, Khary, unless you want to hear the same lecture."

"No, listen, I already have to be out here for work. I'll keep an eye out for that Andrew guy. You enjoy your Sunday, spend time with your kids."

"Khary, finding this guy is very important. He's all Scout has left."

"I'm sure not all," Khary said, knowing how quick Wasabi was to welcome people into his family.

"Be careful, Khary. I trust you to handle yourself, but you're right. We're not in the safest neighborhood. That's why I want to make sure you get home safe tonight, and why I want to make sure Andrew Burks gets home safe too." Khary pressed his lips together.

"Got it. I'll see what I can do. See you later."

"See you tonight."

"Yeah…"

Wasabi returned to the car to find his son and Scout doodling and laughing, enthralled by their project. He smiled sadly and got in.

"You can hang out with us for as long as you want, Scout. I think you'll probably be spending the night at Cass's, though. My brother is keeping an eye out for Andrew. I'm sure he'll let me know if anything turns up."

"Thank you, sir." Scout sounded choked up.

"It'll be okay, Scout. You'll always have someone to reach out to. There are a lot of people who care about you," Wasabi assured.

"Thank you…"

Later that night, when the twins were in bed, Scout was at the Lucky Cat, and Khary had yet to come home, Wasabi did a little research.

"Matilda and Joseph Burks worked at Sycorax before their imprisonment," he mentioned offhandedly to his wife.

"Oh great, Sycorax."

"I hope that kid will be okay," Wasabi sighed.

"I'm sure he will be. I'm glad Luca was looking out for him or who knows how long Scout would have been alone." GoGo remembered the nights she'd lived on her own when her dad would disappear for weeks on end. It was what had helped her become independent enough to move out right after high school, but it had also been the scariest time of her life.

"We should unground Luca. Tomorrow. It would make it easier for him to be there for Scout."

"So long as neither of them ventures into Good Luck Alley. I already don't like that your brother is there. I don't want to find out that Reese and Luca wound up there again."

"We'll take care of them…"

"You coming to bed?" GoGo asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm gonna stay up, wait for Khary. See if he learned anything about Andrew Burks." He was staying up for a long time.


	15. Date Night

**Legacies drops tomorrow and I won't see it until Monday at least *sobs dramatically* so uh, no spoilers.**

* * *

"Is this a date?" Wasabi asked, as he shoveled fried rice from a white paper container into his mouth and he and Leiko sat in the parking lot of a hole in the wall Chinese place. He was wearing jeans and a sweater that he was pretty sure he'd had since college.

GoGo didn't look that much more pulled together, with a leather jacket pulled over a pretty plain tank top that she'd gotten from a fundraiser for Hiro's business, the Tadashi Hamada Care-For-All Clinic. The tank top was plain gray and had "Vaccinate Your Kids" scrawled across the chest. She was also wearing black jeans, as well as a pair of beat-up sneakers that she would have used for gardening… If she ever finally started gardening.

"Of course this is a date, let's go through the checklist again. We're eating dinner without our kids, said kids are being watched by someone else, and Khary doesn't even expect us back until like, ten. Which means we have more than enough time to make this a date, Wasabi."

"Yeah but all we're doing is eating food and going to a few open houses."

"That's probably not all we're doing, but it doesn't really matter, does it? As long as we're together, I'm happy." GoGo yawned. They'd both been up late working on projects for work, as well as continuing to dig into the past, present, and future of Andrew Burks. Scout was at their house right now with the twins, supposedly having a movie marathon of the Toy Story franchise.

"You're being so cheesy, you must be tired. Let's get going. We need to get to the first open house."

"Okay. Do you think we'll find the one today?" GoGo asked, taking his to-go box while he began to drive.

"Probably not, it's Friday the 13th."

"The perfect date night," GoGo agreed. Wasabi gave her a look and she laughed, "Superstitions aside, do you think we'll find anything?"

"Maybe. Some of the ones we're visiting seem pretty good already. Close to their school and our work, will hardly take them out of the neighborhood for when they want to have friends over. Maybe the first one will be perfect."

"We should still scope out the other options though. I know you want things to be in order."

"Well yeah, this is our first house since Berkeley. And I know Berkeley wasn't that long ago but like… That was where our kids grew up. And I think Reese has finally gotten over not living there anymore but I just… I want this new place to feel like home."

"Wasabi… They're already home. We're each other's home, I thought you knew that already, the way you talk sometimes. If we lived in that little apartment forever we'd still be home. The only thing that needs to be perfect for me is that we're together. Everything else is just a bonus."

"You're right… Let's go see this first house." They toured a few houses, taking notes and talking with their real estate agent, trying to find out what was right for them. Even though they were enjoying their night without children Reese and Luca were still on their minds.

"Has to have a garage so we can set up a basketball goal in the driveway for Reese… Preferably four bedrooms, one per kid plus guestroom…" Wasabi muttered as they drove to the next house.

"A decent backyard would be nice. We could have people over for barbecues in the summer."

"Totally. And we have to have the open kitchen we have in the apartment or what's the point?"

"Oh, yeah. With as much as we cook. And Reese and Luca sit at the kitchen island more than they sit at the kitchen table, so we should make sure they still have that space," GoGo added.

"Of course, when we get Reese and Luca their own spaces we'll have to furnish them…"

"Ikea. Ikea everything. If we find a new place by Christmas, they get Ikea shopping trips as their presents."

"That's a great idea, GoGo. And we'll have to furnish the guest bedroom."

"Yeah. We might just let Khary handle that," she chuckled.

"I don't know, I really think he's moving out soon. He told me the other night that he's looking into a new place and already has a roommate."

"Oh, good for him."

"Don't worry, he'll still babysit for us," Wasabi promised, kissing his wife after they pulled up to the next house.

"I wasn't worried. Our kids are teenagers now, and Scout's 14. We could have left them alone."

"Don't remind me, they're so old…" Wasabi groaned.

"Our babies can't stay babies forever," GoGo reminded.

"They can be babies on my phone screen," Wasabi pointed out. His lock screen was of two-year-old Reese and Luca, standing with their arms around each other. It was a cute picture that their twins have since refused to recreate without fighting. Posed pictures were… Infrequent.

"One day, even that is going to change," GoGo told him, patting his shoulder. Wasabi sulked.

"Let's not think about them. Let's just go tour this last house, make sure it has everything we need… For them." GoGo laughed a little and kissed his cheek. He kissed her back on the lips.

"If we get this one over fast we should have like two hours left before we're supposed to be back," Wasabi commented.

"Yep," she agreed and they went to see the last house.

"Four is better than one," Luca was deep in the middle of an argument about Toy Story with his friend when Wasabi and GoGo got back from their date at 9:30.

"One started it all."

"Which is why it's not as good as the others. The correct ranking should be 2, 3, 4, 1."

"The correct ranking is 3, 2, 1, 4." Scout insisted.

"You're both wrong," Reese mumbled from the couch, mostly asleep, head down amongst the cushions, "5, 6, 7, 8." The boys elected to ignore her addition since the quadrilogy had ended as a quadrilogy a long time ago.

"You can't just say one is not as good as the others. The first airplane was revolutionary-"

"And so was Toy Story, but it's the worst movie in the franchise."

"Second worst movie," Scout argued.

"And you like three better than 2? Your opinions are kind of trash, sorry."

"You're both trash," Reese mumbled tiredly.

"Agree to disagree," Scout suggested.

"Yeah, okay. Your opinions aren't trash, Scout. I'm sorry."

"Dude, I know, you don't have to apologize for an argument about movies." Luca smiled in relief.

"You ready to leave, Scout?" Wasabi asked.

"Yes sir, thank you." Scout got up and gathered his homework from the floor and from under Reese's arm.

"Thank you for watching us, sir," he called out to Khary, who was working on something on his phone at the kitchen table. As Wasabi and Scout left, GoGo carried her oldest to bed, Luca trailing after, and then went to sit by her brother-in-law.

"How were they?"

"Mostly good. I know Scout is one of Luca's best friends but he was kind of bugging me about finding his brother, what's his name?"

"Andrew. And you know he's just worried. I'm sure you'd be worried about Wasabi or Damon if they were missing. Don't hold it against him."

"Yeah, I just… I can't help him."

"Don't feel too bad, Khary. You're doing your best. Just be careful."

"I will. I'm going out for a bit. Have to meet the guy I might be rooming with soon. Bye, GoGo, love you. Tell Wasabi I love him too."

"Alright. Love you too, Khary. Be safe." GoGo went to check that her kids were actually going to bed, but the conversation still stuck in her head. Wasabi and GoGo were never shy with saying that they loved their kids, and Khary wasn't shy saying he loved Reese, Luca, Beckett, and Wyatt. But the Ginger brothers didn't often say that they loved each other. They said it in other ways. They said I'm proud of you. They said, be careful. They said, I'll help you. But they rarely said, I love you.

So GoGo couldn't help wondering what Khary was up to that had coaxed those words out of him. And, after hearing how the evening had gone from Scout, Wasabi was also worried about his little brother.

"Scout said that Khary was a little aggressive with them today," Wasabi mentioned when they came home.

"I think Scout was getting on his nerves about Andrew," GoGo mentioned.

"Yeah, maybe, but that doesn't excuse Khary from yelling at the twins."

"He yelled at Reese and Luca?"

"That's what Scout said, and he has no reason to lie. I don't want to speculate but Khary's been having some really weird mood shifts lately. Uh, where is he?"

"He went out to meet with his future roommate."

"Oh. Okay. I really wanted to talk to him about this. I don't want him yelling at the kids. Any of them. That's not his place."

"He said he loved us before he left," GoGo mentioned. Wasabi's eyebrows shot up.

"He said what?"

"He said he loved me and to tell you that he loved you too."

"Maybe out of guilt… Maybe out of worry. I should go out and find him-"

"Wasabi, no. He's an adult. No matter what, we should give him his space. He's probably just going through some things. We'll talk to him in the morning."

"Okay. I love you, GoGo."

"I love you too. Thanks for the date tonight, but let's go to bed."

"That," Wasabi said, "is the best way to end any date."

* * *

**In case anyone was wondering how I outline and plan for this story/how I write this... There is a method to my madness? Sort of? I want to tell you guys that I know where I'm going, but the Scout arc and the Khary arc came up randomly. Scout was just a throw-away line, "[Scout] wants to write children's books when he grows up, though he's unsure if he wants to bring children into the world himself because of his home life" before I decided that I love my little polite, rural, football-playing dork. I figured that if one of Luca's friends was suffering Luca would probably do something.**

**As for the Khary thing... That was also not planned when I wrote an outline.**

**So... Everything is random. Everything. Just a vague calendar of what's supposed to happen.**


	16. Girls' Day

**There's a new story up called A Change in Circumstances that just dropped today and it's lowkey referenced in this chapter!**

**I wanted to focus on Reese and GoGo's relationship. Also, last week I went on and on about how I don't outline and plan but I'm happy to say that when I start writing one thing, pieces fall together and I know what's coming next! And after that... And after that...**

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Every day since Halloween Reese had woken up to Luca's alarm. Which was Fabulous, from High School Musical 2. Every day since Halloween. It would have been one terrible thing to play a different song from the franchise every day since Halloween. But Luca decided that he wanted to tease his sister and he decided that he wanted to be Fabulous. Every single day since Halloween. It was almost Thanksgiving and Reese was going to lose it.

GoGo didn't really have any siblings herself. She did have a pair of eyes though, so she could see how close her daughter was to snapping.

That's why, on the Monday before Thanksgiving, when the twins were on break and GoGo was using her vacation days, GoGo proposed a girls' day. And, horrified at the prospect of having to instead wander around San Fransokyo with Luca and his squadron of male models, Reese had agreed. Luca had been practicing portraits lately and so boys had been showing up in droves for their headshots. It seemed like every guy in school had been in Reese's bubble these past few weeks. Scout was the nicest of them but Scout was always there. It wasn't even that Reese wanted to spend time with her brother alone. Right now she was just desperate to get away from other people. So she jumped on the chance to have a girls' day.

"So uh… What do you want to do?" GoGo asked after they had gotten in the car, the apartment they'd abandoned already filling up with testosterone. She loved spending time with her kids but she wasn't the one in this family that made plans, so she looked to her daughter for suggestions as they planned their morning.

"Let's get frozen yogurt," Reese suggested. GoGo wondered if this was a bad idea this early and then decided that she didn't care.

"Sounds good. Is there anything you want to talk about? I know things have been kinda stressful lately."

Reese kicked the glove compartment and scowled, "stressful is a good word for it."

"Don't kick the car, Reese. And you can tell me what's been bothering you. I can talk with Luca about changing his alarm if you want."

"It's not the alarm. It's… Ugh! Why does he have to have so many friends? It's gross. It's disgusting." Reese hugged herself, rubbing her arms like she was dusting the grime of socialization off of her shoulders.

"There have been a lot of people around lately," GoGo hadn't been one to walk on eggshells until she'd had kids. Suddenly it was necessary to balance the feelings of both of her children and so she had to be fairly impartial.

"Too many people," Reese muttered, hugging herself tighter.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" GoGo asked gently.

"I just don't get it… Why does he want so many people around him? It seems exhausting."

"You like your team, right?" GoGo asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Luca just has a bigger team than you."

"But his team isn't working towards a common goal and they don't have a rational reason to hang out. They just hang out."

"They're friends, Reese, they like each other. People like you too."

"Yeah, whatever. I just don't get it. So many people are poking and prodding in my business and when they find out that I'm Luca's sister suddenly all these eyes are on me and it's gross." Something clicked in GoGo's mind. She remembered how in college Wasabi had to get over his fear of public speaking. People looking at him had been a big deal to him and it hadn't been easy to overcome. Now Wasabi could easily speak in front of his students but he'd had to admit first that he had this fear before he could work on fixing it.

"It's okay if you're not comfortable with a lot of attention."

"I don't mind attention," Reese protested, "I like attention when I'm on the court."

"Reese, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with being afraid and there's nothing wrong with needing time to work through your fears."

"I'm not afraid! What would I be afraid of?" Reese was defensive now. GoGo sighed.

"You know, everyone has things that they're afraid of. I'm afraid of leprechauns. Your dad used to be afraid of public speaking. People looking at him made him freeze up." Reese glanced at her mother, glossing over the leprechaun comment.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"So dad was kinda… Kinda sort of afraid of people?"

"Yeah. "

"So it's not forever?"

"It won't be as bad forever. What is it about people that scares you? If you feel comfortable telling me." They pulled into the parking lot of the yogurt place, San FransokYogurt.

"Uh… I'm just…" Reese stammered. She exhaled slowly.

"I don't know um… When a lot of people are talking all at once or looking at me or trying to pry into my brain I feel so tiny but it's different with basketball because I'm in control." GoGo nodded and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"It's perfectly normal to want to be in control and to feel uncomfortable when you're not. Your dad might be able to help you work through this, and if you thought it would be beneficial you could start seeing a therapist." Reese recoiled at the words and GoGo's heart broke. She was angry at the world that had stigmatized mental health and she was angry that the stigma had hurt her family.

"There is nothing wrong with getting help, Reese Renee."

"How would you know?" Reese muttered, staring at her lap.

"Both your dad and I have gone to therapy. I started going after my dad died. He was abusive and when I stopped living with him I tried to move on like everything was fine but when my dad died I started seeing a therapist because I wasn't coping well. Bottling stuff up never helps, Reese. Seeking professional counseling did. Your dad and I will always support you and Luca and if you need therapy we'll get you that help. We love you both very, very much." Reese's mouth opened and closed in shock.

"I-I d-didn't know a-about your d-dad…" Her voice held an apology but GoGo didn't need an apology, she understood.

"It's okay, Reese. Maybe I should've told you two about it, maybe not. Let's go get yogurt, we can eat in the car and you can ask me anything you want to and I'll do my very best to answer. Or we could talk about anything you like, anything that's scaring you or hurting you or the things that have been making you happy lately. Girls' day." GoGo offered her fist for a fist bump, laughing to herself when she recalled Baymax's version of a fist bump.

"Girls' day," Reese agreed with a hesitant smile and a fist bump before they raided the yogurt shop for frozen delight and toppings. Reese got Oreos and gummy worms and hot fudge on peanut butter cheesecake flavored yogurt. GoGo got strawberry with chocolate chips, the satisfaction of seeing her kid smile, and a hole punch for her membership card. Three more and they got a free one. If only there were only four members in her family… With their goods in hand, they headed back to the car.

"We used to go get frozen yogurt after games every time my team won, why'd we stop that?" Reese wondered aloud.

"You got really good at basketball. Any team you're on is unstoppable, we couldn't just get frozen yogurt every week," GoGo laughed. Reese beamed, leaning towards the praise the way a cat leans toward a hand when it wants petting. For the most part, praise made her uncomfortable. She hated when Luca bragged on her in front of his friends. She didn't want people to be told that she was good. She wanted people to see that she was good. But it was different with her mom. Sometimes they got so frustrated with each other that Reese sometimes didn't hear much out of her mother except, "Woman up." There would always be good night and I love you and all of the normal affection, but when they could see eye to eye enough to raise legitimate praise, it felt nice.

Reese decided to return it, "You're a good mom," she said quietly.

"You do everything to make me and Luca happy so… Thank you." That caught GoGo by surprise and she rested her hand on Reese's shoulder. It meant even more that Reese didn't flinch away, that Reese hadn't been scared, at a young age, away from gestures that should have been comforting. It had taken GoGo a long time to open up to physical affection from others. She still didn't always like to be hugged and sometimes Wasabi asked to make sure she wanted him to hold her hand or put his arm around her. Reese could set whatever boundaries she wanted, but GoGo was happy that those boundaries weren't being set out of fear.

"Thank you, Reese. That means a lot to me. I… I'm the luckiest person in the whole world, to have two kids as wonderful as you." Reese blushed.

"We're not that great," she laughed, "well maybe Luca is…"

"Don't put yourself down. You both do that, you know? I see it. You both put yourself down to raise each other up when you're not bickering over something or other. You protect each other at the cost of your own self-esteem. I don't want you doing that anymore. Obviously defend and build up your brother, Reese, but, you're an amazing kid. You're my daughter and I love everything about you, down to the details you might think no one notices. I love you so please, don't put yourself down." Tears stung Reese's eyes and she was quick to brush them away. She hated crying.

"M-mom…? I love you too… Thank you for um… Thank you." GoGo set aside her yogurt then and pulled Reese into a hug.

"Reese, baby, you can talk to me and your dad any time you want. You can ask for help any time you want, you can ask anything whenever you feel like it's something you need to know. We're always going to be here for you, no matter what." For a moment, holding her daughter, everything was right in the world. GoGo hoped that the moment would never end.


	17. Thanksgiving

**Guess who just found out that Berkeley is less than an hour away from San Francisco? Like it would take such a short amount of time to get from Berkeley to San Fransokyo. Which I suppose means that everything and nothing changes now. I'm just mad because it seems less dramatic that they moved all the way from Berkeley.**

**Anyway, When We Were Younger also got a Thanksgiving chapter today, even though it was just Valentine's day lol.**

**Enjoy!**

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Thanksgiving started early in the Tomago household. They were driving to Berkeley. That was the plan. GoGo and Wasabi had elected to nudge their children out of bed extra early so that they made it there on time. They thought that the twins would be the problematic ones. They were wrong.

Khary and Wasabi were both big coffee drinkers. And, to be honest, they were both kind of punks when it came to mornings without coffee. Khary had just finished off the first pot and Wasabi, dressed and ready to go (but at what cost?) hadn't had a single drop. So he was kind of ticked. It didn't help that his brother had really been getting on his nerves lately. Without meaning to, they'd been bickering more and more frequently, over the smallest things that didn't even matter.

Today, it was coffee that started the argument. Khary held a mug that said, "Don't Talk To Me Before I've Had My Coffee" and Wasabi noticed.

"That's my mug," Wasabi pointed out, "I didn't say you could use my mug, you have your own."

"What? That's so petty. You let GoGo use this mug."

"GoGo is my wife."

"Why are you being so butthurt over this?"

"Why are you disrespecting me in my own house, Khary? I let you stay on the couch and that was fine, but lately, you've been a monster," Khary flinched when Wasabi said this, "you've been rude and angry, you yelled at my kids and now you're being disrespectful towards me and GoGo."

"Disrespectful? You're acting like mom-" Wasabi snapped.

"Out! Out of my house Khary Lewis Ginger! I'm not going to take this from you. I'm not going to have you tell me how to run my household. I'm not just nitpicking, you're not the Khary I invited to crash on my couch, and until he's back, you're not staying." GoGo and the kids looked between the two brothers in horror.

"I was wrong," Khary said, eyes gleaming with anger and revenge, "you're not like mom, mom wouldn't have kicked me out!" And then he left, slamming the door. Wasabi leaned against the counter, those words, that verdict so painful to deliver. But he was serious. He didn't recognize the young man he saw when he looked at Khary, and he wanted his brother to do some serious reflection. Hopefully, tough love would remedy the situation. Hopefully, love still lived between them.

"GoGo, call Damon. Tell him that we're still coming but that Khary is not. Kids, get in the car." Luca and Reese felt sick to their stomachs and were uncharacteristically holding each other's hands. They still had Scout to pick up because they'd obviously invited him to Thanksgiving. The young man felt awkward and intrusive stepping into the Hamada Thanksgiving, even though GoGo knew better than anyone else that Aunt Cass's table was always set for one or two extra people. Before she'd started celebrating Thanksgiving in small date-like ways with Wasabi, she'd been Tadashi's guest on several occasions. She knew that Scout would be equally accepted. But this was Cass's first thanksgiving with her new granddaughter, Kaida Cassidy Hamada, so it was understandable that Scout felt intrusive.

GoGo couldn't help feeling guilty inviting Scout to this particular Thanksgiving given the building tension in the car. Reese and Luca continued to hold onto each other and Wasabi sat in the passenger seat and cried. So GoGo drove and when they pulled up to The Lucky Cat it was a little awkward, which was by no means Scout's fault.

"Is… Is Mr. Tomago okay?" Scout asked in a quiet voice.

"Everything's alright, he just had an argument with Khary earlier and now Khary isn't coming to Thanksgiving."

"Is it my fault? Because of Andrew?" Scout asked, his heart sinking as he watched his best friend's dad sit in the front seat on Thanksgiving and cry.

"No, of course not Scout! You've done nothing wrong and we love you spending time with our family. Khary just crossed a line earlier and they need some time apart."

Luca put a hand on Scout's shoulder, "You're part of the family too, Scout." Even if Uncle Khary wasn't anymore. Both Reese and Luca were a little scared that one day something would happen and that their dad would yell at them and kick them out. It was irrational, but the fears had been planted. Luca was especially afraid because, even though his heart was always open for more people, he didn't feel like other people always had room in their hearts for him.

Everyone was understandably on edge when Wasabi and the family pulled up to Damon's house a little less than an hour later. Damon was kind of ticked and Wasabi had just recently stopped crying.

"Hey, Wesley, what the heck? Why isn't Khary coming? What did you two do?"

"We had an argument."

"That doesn't give you the right to boot him out of a celebration at my house."

"He compared me to mom. He said that I was worse than mom. I don't want to see him right now and I'm pretty sure he feels the same." Damon softened, putting a hand on Wasabi's shoulder.

"I don't know why he'd say crap like that. You're nothing like her, Wes. Don't let some angry words get you down. Everyone says things that they'll eventually regret when they're angry. I know we've had several arguments that took some time to heal from. Let's just try to enjoy the day, okay?" Wasabi nodded, forcing a smile. Damon did his best to get the mood up, and his sons followed suit, becoming happy, perky hype men.

Beckett and Wyatt instantly clicked with Scout, and the five children stayed outside to play a game of football before lunch. Scout was trying to explain the game to Luca and Beckett was trying to convince his younger brother to be their alternate since he was much smaller than the others, especially Scout and Beckett, who were like giants compared to the scrawny ten-year-old. Wasabi stayed outside for a bit and watched Beckett and Wyatt argue, wishing that his argument with Khary had ended peacefully the way his nephews' had. Then he followed Damon inside.

Since the first time they met, GoGo and Crystal had become like sisters, though they were terribly different. Crystal was a lawyer and liked to go slow and methodical, including when she cooked.

"Leiko you really don't have to help me, everything is going okay." GoGo didn't like cooking because of how slow it went, especially when her sister-in-law did it.

"Okay, okay. How are things? How are the kids?"

"They're doing good. Damon and I can't believe how old Beck's getting. He's already applying for colleges! It's going to be so hard when he leaves…"

"I can only imagine. My kids are only thirteen and they already seem so grown up. At least you have Wyatt. You won't be an empty-nester for a while."

"True. I love them both so much… Tell me about Luca's friend, Sky, was it?"

"Uh, close. Scout. He's been staying with Cass Hamada but we've kind of taken him in too, he's practically family. His home life is somewhat like mine was, he doesn't really have anyone to take care of him. His parents are in prison and his brother Andrew, who's supposed to be his guardian, up and disappeared about a month ago."

"That's horrible! You and Wes are doing the right thing, helping him out."

"We thought so too. And he's really a good kid. Bad families seem to happen to the nicest kids."

"I've seen that a lot in court," Crystal sighed.

"But hey, it's Thanksgiving. Today let's be grateful for the families we've found. Whether or not they were the families we were born with."

For the most part, Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. Everyone was talking and laughing and eating. It was good. Except for the elephant in the room. Damon took an empty chair away from the table and no one said anything about Khary for the rest of the day. But his presence still hung in the room. Though everyone seemed to be happy, Wasabi didn't manage a real smile.

GoGo was worried about her husband, worried about her children, worried about Khary. No one was more worried about Khary than Wasabi though, who was doing everything he could not to break down and call him, break down and beg for Khary to come back into his life.

But he didn't fully regret what he'd done. Khary had been going through some upsetting changes and someone had had to challenge him on that. Wasabi wasn't ashamed of being the one demanding that Khary figure out what was going on before he leaned on anyone for favors. Wasabi was worried that the wake-up call wouldn't wake Khary up, but that was ultimately up to Khary now. Wasabi would gladly welcome his brother back, hopefully, one day soon. Until then he would just hope and pray that things would get better between them.

After they dropped Scout off at The Lucky Cat, Wasabi found that his twins were suspiciously quick to want to go to bed, though they argued a bit about Luca's choice of alarms.

"Are you okay?" GoGo asked, putting a hand on his arm while Wasabi began to wash the dish that had started it all, half wanting to trash it but not doing so because it had been one of the first things he'd bought on his own.

"No. I feel like I'm supposed to be thankful, but what if I drove my brother away forever? And I still can't believe he compared me to mom..." He washed the coffee stains out of the mug and wished he could wash the same stains out of his relationships with his family.

"You should call him, Wasabi. You don't have to invite him back, but I think you should talk to him."

"I should…" He finished the dishes from this morning and hit his brother's contact, a smiling picture of Khary facing him and making his heart ache with remorse.

Khary picked up right away though, which was a good sign.

"Wesley?"

"Hey, Khary… I just wanted to say I'm sorry things escalated earlier. And I wanted to check in to make sure you were safe tonight."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll be okay…"

"So you have a place to stay?"

"Yeah. I have a place to stay." Khary was clearly hiding something but Wasabi didn't press, though the pain behind Khary's words made his heart burst.

"You'll be okay?"

"I'll be okay. Thanks for still caring after what I said about you."

"I'll always care. But that doesn't mean there won't be consequences, you know?"

"I know. I'm sorry about today. About everything."

"I forgive you. But I still don't think you should be living here until you figure out what's been going on."

"I completely understand." They ended the call like it was a business call, cold and unemotional. After the call was over, Wasabi sat down to cry for the second time that day. What was it about Thanksgiving that always made him feel the opposite? Maybe he would never know.


	18. Sick Day

**I've been excited to write this chapter and the next one for a while. Can't apologize for random time skips like this one, the title of the story is Moving Too Fast, lol.**

**Enjoy!**

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Until she woke up one morning a little bit before Christmas, GoGo didn't know it was possible to feel sicker than Wasabi had been feeling lately as he beat himself up over Khary's absence. Now, as she hunched over the toilet early in the morning with what she initially assumed was food poisoning, she imagined that she felt worse than Wasabi did.

At least her knight in shining armor was there, rubbing her back as she hurled.

"It's okay, baby, it's okay…" He mumbled. Before they'd had children this would've grossed him out, but with twins, they really had seen everything.

"Don't tell me that it's okay when I'm literally throwing up," GoGo said, a little grouchy at the earliness of the morning. She didn't remember the last time she'd felt this tired.

"Has your stomach settled?" Wasabi asked after a minute without puke.

"I think so? There's no telling. But I think I'd like to lie down…"

"Okay. We'll keep the trash bin by your side of the bed and if you're not feeling better by morning I'll call Krei myself and tell him to shove it if you can't have a sick day." They both laughed a little, and GoGo certainly felt better.

"Thanks, Wasabi. You're the best husband." He smiled warmly.

"You're the best wife. I'm sorry you're getting sick so close to Christmas. But at least classes are out, so I can pamper you today." He kissed her forehead, half checking for a fever, and GoGo smiled a little.

"Mm, let's get you to bed." Wasabi lifted her and carried her to bed.

When the reasonable time of day came for GoGo to go to work, her stomach didn't feel nearly as upset, though she felt a little nauseous and very tired.

"Well that settles it," Wasabi said when she let him know of her symptoms, "you're staying home today. And I'm taking you to the clinic. Better safe than sorry if this is the catalyst to a bigger reaction."

"Thanks, Wasabi."

"Do you think you could eat a little plain toast? Drink some water?" He asked.

"I'll try," she started to get up but he stopped her.

"Just rest. The kids aren't even up yet. I'll take care of everything." Everyone, it seemed, was enjoying Christmas break except for her. GoGo sighed, and though the thought was abhorrent to her, she sat back to rest. She had a book on the nightstand she had gotten last spring for her birthday. She'd been meaning to read it but life had gotten so busy. So she began to look through it now until Wasabi came back with a minimal breakfast.

"Thanks, love." She managed to keep down the toast and water, a little bit confused about the cause of her nausea.

"I don't remember eating anything that would've gotten me sick, at least nothing that wouldn't have also gotten you and the kids sick…"

"Well, let's just be glad that more people aren't sick. I'll take you to the clinic a little later after the kids wake up and I can explain to them what's going on. We'll just have them stay in today." There was obvious pain behind Wasabi's words. He would have asked Khary to watch them, but that was no longer an option, really.

"Wasabi? Khary will be okay. He's strong. If there's something going on, he can fight it."

"I know… I just… The longer this goes on the more I feel like this was a mistake. We wouldn't kick Reese and Luca out for making a mistake like this."

"Reese and Luca didn't compare you to your mom."

"I don't think they know enough to compare me…"

"Even if they did they wouldn't do it because you're nothing like her," GoGo insisted.

"Thank you, dear. I'm sorry I've just been a ball of nerves lately. This Khary thing stresses me out. But as long as you're under the weather my focus is on you."

"Thanks, Wasabi." She leaned back.

"Is there anything you need, my dear? More water, toast, a back rub? Or would you prefer to be left alone to rest?" GoGo rolled her eyes a little at the pampering.

"Why don't you go start breakfast for the twins?"

"Got it. Get some rest." Wasabi kissed her head once more, always a little extra protective when one of his family members was sick or injured. And since he was already so protective, that meant he could get a bit overbearing when it came to the smallest colds or stomach bugs. GoGo was less worried about whatever minor illness she had gotten than she was that Wasabi would go overboard taking care of her.

It didn't take long for GoGo to hear the sound of her kiddos chattering about something or other, and soon Wasabi came back to the room to check on her. When he opened the door she gagged, the scent of fried egg strong on his clothes.

"What? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"You smell like eggs," GoGo muttered, closing her eyes.

"Okay, got it, sorry. I'll change my clothes." That was something that was great about Wasabi. He didn't ask questions if the solution was right there. He just did the next right thing. He changed and then poked his head out of the bedroom, asking the kids to do their own dishes this morning because he needed to take GoGo to the clinic. Reese and Luca weren't ones to complain about chores, although they argued if one had more chores to do than the other, and they set to it without a word.

"Let's get ready to go, okay?" Wasabi suggested, standing close to GoGo as she got out of bed in case she needed help with anything. She put a hand on his chest, seemingly to lean on him, and pushed him a few inches back.

"I need space, Wasabi."

"Sorry…"

"It's fine." GoGo changed, wearing a warm purple sweater that Wasabi had knit for her and a light coat, as the weather had turned a bit cold lately.

"Let's go." GoGo bid her kids farewell and they headed out. Wasabi, already a slow and careful driver, drove slower so as not to upset GoGo's stomach anymore. His carefulness was almost painful to her, but she was able to put herself in his shoes at least a little. If this had been Reese or Luca she would've done the same. Wasabi couldn't help feeling anxious. Despite both of them being sure that it was nothing he couldn't help but fear the worst.

GoGo was sure it was nothing. She didn't let herself fear the worst. She had to be okay. For herself, for her kids, for her husband, for their friends. When they pulled up to the Tadashi Hamada Clinic GoGo was ready to argue that she was basically fine. She held on to Wasabi's hand to comfort him, not vice versa.

Hiro and Karmi weren't in the clinic as they were on paternity and maternity leave respectfully, but they kept the clinic staffed with capable doctors and state-of-the-art robotic healthcare companions so GoGo and Wasabi weren't worried about the examination.

"Mrs. Tomago, from the symptoms you described, there are a few options. The flu has been going around lately-"

"Oh no, I got vaccinated when my kids got vaccinated," GoGo quickly explained.

"Right. Well, is it possible that you might be pregnant?" GoGo's eyes widened and she looked at Wasabi, both of them doing mental math.

"There is a possibility," Wasabi mentioned, feeling a lot of things at once.

"We'll just run a test, okay Mrs. Tomago?"

"That's perfectly fine." Leiko cooperated with the doctor, sending increasingly shocked glances in Wasabi's direction every chance she got. Wasabi was stunned, staying silent until the doctor came back with the results.

"Well, Mrs. Tomago, it appears that you are in fact pregnant. Don't worry about it, the Tadashi Hamada Clinic works with several talented obstetricians who we can refer you to. They'll help you navigate your pregnancy if that's what you want."

"Yeah, give us the card for that," Wasabi requested, speaking for GoGo who had fallen quiet.

"We'll just finish up the check-up and you'll be on your way."

"Thank you," GoGo whispered.

When they were in the car, Wasabi turned to his wife nervously.

"Leiko? How are you feeling about everything?"

"I'm still in shock," she admitted, "I didn't think we'd have more than two kids."

"I remember how surprised we were when the doctor said it was twins… We didn't think we could handle it, but we did it then. We can do it now." She nodded.

"Of course. We're really going to have to push for that house. One of the ones we looked at met most of our standards, do you think you could still put in a bid for that?" She asked.

"Of course, I'll call up our agent as soon as we get home."

"Should we tell the kids today?"

"They're our kids, they're going to want to know what's wrong."

"What about our friends? We're having the Christmas party next week… Should we tell them then?"

"It's a little early to tell everyone, we don't know what will happen with the baby… But if you want to tell them then I fully support it." Wasabi glanced at her.

"I think I'd like to have all of their support sooner rather than later," she said thoughtfully.

"Okay, it's settled. We'll tell the kids when we get home and our friends at the Christmas party. We'll decide who else knows later." He was thinking about his own family.

"You can tell Khary, Wasabi."

"Okay. When we get home…" Wasabi swallowed hard, still heartbroken.

"This is a good thing, Wes. We're bringing a life into the world. Let's try to be happy okay?"

"I am happy. I'm just worried, too…" They pulled up to the apartment and Wasabi helped her out of the car, looking at her for a second, just taking in his beautiful wife and the fact that she was carrying their third child.

Luca met them at the door.

"Hey, mom! Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Reese, come here. Your dad and I have an announcement!" Wasabi wrapped his arm around his wife as Reese came over to them, looking expectantly at her parents.

"We just found out, I'm pregnant! You're going to have a little brother or sister!"

"What? No way! That's awesome!" Luca cheered, running to go get his camera. Reese stood still, thoughtful as she analyzed her mom.

"This is going to change things," Reese assessed after a moment, and GoGo pulled her into her arms.

"Yeah, but it's not going to change how much your dad and I love you and Luca." Luca came back and took a picture of GoGo and Reese, wanting to hold on to the memory of finding out about his new brother or sister.

"Can we pick the name?" Luca asked as Wasabi excused himself to make some calls.

"We'll talk about it," GoGo promised, pulling her son into the hug as well.

Wasabi tried to call Khary, but he was met only with silence.


	19. Okay for Christmas

**First and Foremost, this chapter corresponds directly with a new story, Don't Spend The Rest of Your Life Wondering What If. Go read that first, probably? :D**

**Secondly, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 31 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like two more people went and reviewed every single chapter from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

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"How do I look?" GoGo asked, turning around and looking at herself in the mirror. She could count the times she'd worn a dress in the past twenty years on two hands. But she'd promised Honey Lemon that they'd match this year, so she was wearing a silver one and Honey Lemon had the same in gold. She'd asked Reese if she wanted to wear a dress as well and had been lucky enough to get her daughter to wear pants instead of basketball shorts. Luca was dressed as always, t-shirt, brown bomber jacket, and a scarf. His favorite scarf was purple and he wore it today. He'd loaned his second favorite scarf, an emerald green one, to Scout, since it complimented his blond hair and hazel eyes. Scout was going to meet them at The Lucky Cat and the twins were in the living room, waiting for GoGo to get ready.

"Perfect. Better question, how do you feel?" Wasabi wore a cheesy homemade Christmas sweater that proudly showcased knitted gingerbread men. He also sported a worried frown, all the more overprotective of GoGo now that she was pregnant. Everyone had been a little off since they'd found out. Plus, Wasabi was still reeling from all these last-minute things. Trying to get the house, planning for a new baby, and dealing with Khary.

"I'm fine, are you?" Today was the party, tomorrow a small private Christmas with the kids, and the day after that they'd go to the Christmas play Khary was in and then celebrate with Khary, Damon, and the others. That was majorly stress-inducing for Wasabi.

"Yeah, no, I'm only announcing a recently discovered pregnancy to all of our friends then buying a house for the first time and dealing with my prodigal brother, and have I ever mentioned that Christmas is stressful?"

"Once or twice, dear." She kissed his cheek.

"Let's head out," he sighed, "We don't want to be late." Wasabi herded his kids into the car and they started the relatively short drive to the cafe.

"Hey mom, how are you feeling?" GoGo repressed a sigh. She'd been getting this from her son as well as from her husband. They were relentless with their interrogations.

"I'm fine, Luca. You don't have to worry about me, I promise. Thank you for caring, kiddo, but everything is going to be okay." Luca nodded and tried to believe it, but things were never 100% okay. If they could be, well, that was all he wanted for Christmas.

"Uncle Khary isn't going to be at the party, right?" Reese asked.

"No, but we'll see him the day after tomorrow." Wasabi took his eyes off the road long enough to glance back at his daughter, unable to read her face.

Reese stared at her lap and nodded, "Okay. Cool." The fight between her dad and Khary had left her with a billion questions. Was Uncle Khary still part of the family? Was her dad going to forgive him? What exactly about her grandmother made dad so angry and sad? And most of all, had Uncle Khary deserved it? He'd been mean lately, and Uncle Khary was never mean. He'd snapped at Luca once or twice but he'd only yelled at her once. Reese didn't tend to give people the chance to get upset with her more than once. One strike, and she was out. After that, she'd build up her defenses until she was impenetrable.

"Yeah," Wasabi sighed in agreement. Neither of them knew what cool meant in this context.

"Remember," GoGo reminded her kids before they got out of the car, "we're telling everyone about the baby tonight, so don't mention it until we do. Alright?"

"Okay," Luca agreed, more excited about meeting Uncle Hiro's new daughter than spilling the secret. He wouldn't have minded if it was another secret he'd held on to, he had gathered so many after all.

"Got it, no telling." Reese would just stick close to Luca, and if Luca wasn't going to share the secret then she wouldn't either. Maybe she'd branch off to talk to Uncle Fred, but likely she'd stay by her brother's side like she did at any social gathering. She'd been thinking a lot about fear and asking for help. She hadn't asked for much for Christmas, it seemed like the only thing she really wanted was to make sense of everything that had been going on.

They headed inside after the quick pep talk and GoGo was immediately ambushed by her old roommate.

"Oh my gosh GoGo you look so cute!" Honey Lemon squealed.

Luca held up his camera, "Let me get a picture of you two twinning." GoGo inwardly rolled her eyes, but she was never going to douse his photography passion, so she smiled for the camera.

"Thanks, Luca, send that one to me, okay?" Honey Lemon asked, and the teen gave her a thumbs up before going off to join Scout and Reese and meet baby Kaida. He also snapped a few pictures of everyone, before setting his camera down so he could carefully hold the newborn, thrilled at imagining having his own baby brother or sister to hold next year if everything stayed 100% okay. Still, he kept quiet about the secret, even when Karmi praised him for being so good with babies. When his turn holding the sleepy little girl ended, no one had any idea of any of the Tomago family secrets.

Wasabi took a little while to get into the party spirit. While GoGo talked and joked with Fred and Honey Lemon, who seemed like they'd come to the party together, he hung back for a bit. Aunt Cass must have noticed because she came over after a few minutes.

"Everything okay, Wesley? You seem down."

"I guess I am, a little bit. Khary and I haven't been on the same wavelength lately and there's just been a lot of stress because of that. I'm really worried about him."

"Tadashi used to be really worried about Hiro, what with his bot fighting and everything. It's natural to be worried about your little brother, it's natural to fight and argue. But that won't change how much you love each other. Give it some time, Wesley, and everything will be okay again."

"Thanks, Cass…"

"Now come join the party. Everyone's glad you're here." Wasabi went to talk to Hiro about the joys of fatherhood (and maybe slip him a few coupons for instant coffee) and everyone seemed to be in pretty good spirits. After a half-hour or so, GoGo caught her husband's attention and they prepared to make an announcement.

"Hey, everyone, Wasabi and I have an announcement to make," GoGo said, looking around the room at all the people she'd consider to be family.

"Really?" Honey Lemon asked, her eyes lighting up, "Fred and I have an announcement too!"

"You do?" Now GoGo was a little confused.

"Yes, but you spoke up first! What's going on?"

GoGo took a deep breath, a bit thrown by her friend's statement, "Well, we just found out that I'm pregnant! It's still very early, and you're the first to know outside of Reese and Luca." Suddenly GoGo was being drowned in hugs, Honey Lemon first, then Fred and Hiro and Aunt Cass, even Karmi.

"That's amazing news!" Honey Lemon gushed, "thank you for sharing with us! That's so exciting!"

"We're excited too, albeit a little stressed, now what was your news? You're not pregnant too, are you?" GoGo asked, looking between Honey Lemon and Fred. Honey Lemon tilted her head back and laughed, but Fred wasn't laughing. He whispered something in her ear.

"Oh yeah," Honey Lemon replied quietly, shrugging a bit.

"Can't say whether or not I'm pregnant," Honey Lemon said, "but that's not our announcement."

"I knew it!" Wasabi said, a bit louder than he meant to, "You two are dating!"

Honey Lemon and Fred shared a look, "Um, yes, though we thought we were more subtle, but that's not our announcement either."

"How can that not be your announcement? I want to know everything! I want to know why you kept it from us and how you started dating!" Now Hiro was in on the interrogation.

"That is our announcement. Freddie and I started dating when we decided to write a book together! It's a graphic novel about superheroes. I did the art and Fred did the writing and it comes out next year!"

"That's really exciting guys, congratulations. That doesn't explain why you kept your relationship a secret though," GoGo pointed out.

"We weren't sure at first, we didn't want it to seem like we were rushing into something. But after a few months, we realized that we were acting on feelings we'd had since college, and so it stopped feeling like we'd just jumped into this, randomly. Once we figured that out, we just wanted to wait a little bit longer to be sure. We never meant to lie to you."

"I'm glad you guys figured it out, you're cute together," Hiro congratulated, "are there any other secrets you're keeping from us?"

Fred smirked, kissing his girlfriend in public for the very first time, "None that we're going to tell you."

"Why does everyone care so much?" Reese asked Luca quietly.

"I don't know. Being in a relationship makes some people happy. I think that we can just be happy for them." Luca, at thirteen, had never been in a relationship. Reese, at thirteen, had never wanted to be.

"Scout," Reese caught the eighth grader's attention, "what's your position on this whole relationship thing?" Scout was surprised that Reese was the one pulling him into the conversation. He had had a feeling that Reese didn't like him much, but things were changing.

"Lots of drama, I've had a couple. Honestly, what's the point of relationships?"

"He gets it," Reese nodded, and Scout suddenly felt accepted by his best friend's best friend. Everyone kept saying that he was part of the family now but Reese including him, even in something as small as a relationship rant, affirmed that.

Luca shrugged, "Who knows? Mom and dad seem happy." Luca glanced at his parents, who were in the corner talking quietly.

"This has gone well," GoGo said quietly.

"Yep." Wasabi still looked concerned.

"You're worried about the play aren't you?"

"I'm not worried about the play, I'm worried about everything that comes after. But it'll be okay… Brothers fight. Everything will be okay."

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**I'm sorry that this Christmas chapter wasn't more Christmas-y. I imagine it's a big deal in the Tomago household exclusively because of time to spend with their found family. They aren't really a material family. I imagine that Reese and Luca don't ask for a lot because neither of them ever really want anything that they couldn't just ask their parents for or buy with their own money, y'know?**

**So I couldn't concoct this crazy wish list for them because they just don't care tbh.**


	20. It's A Wonderful Life

**I have the story outlined essentially through the rest of the "Khary" arc, but I can't tell you how many chapters that will be as I tend to add chapters into the story before reaching certain conclusions. I appreciate everyone who reads and follows the story and everyone who reviews. You're all lovely :3**

**Enjoy!**

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 24 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed half the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

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"What did you guys get for Christmas?" Beckett asked Reese and Luca as they settled into their seats at the play. The kids sat on the left, the parents on the right, with Wasabi acting as the divider as he talked to his brother and sister-in-law.

"Oh, you know, clothes, shoes, stuff," Luca said with a shrug.

"Dad always makes us these cheesy sweaters and scarfs," Reese added.

"I like the scarves," Luca argued, wearing his new blue and white checkered one that moment.

"Of course you do. You can have mine." Reese was wearing Wasabi's sweater now, It was in their school colors, purple and black, and was similar to her jersey, just missing a number or two.

"You didn't get anything big?" Beckett asked, not exactly surprised, knowing how their family differed from his. He'd gotten a new bike that he could take for college when he started. He was well on his way to either SFIT or SFAI.

"We didn't really ask for anything big. Got a couple of gift cards as well," Reese remembered.

"And we're going to get to pick out some furniture for when we move into the new house since we'll have our own rooms then. All my friends always want to do complicated makeup things when I shoot for them so I'm gonna get a vanity desk combo so they can do it in my room while I'm prepping for the shoots."

"That's cool. I bet you're excited to have your own space." Beckett glanced over to where his brother was happily playing on his phone and remembered the brief stint of time when he'd had to share a room with Wyatt. It didn't matter how much he loved his little brother, that had been terrible.

"I guess," Reese shrugged, "I'm excited to have somewhere to play basketball."

"The kids are talking about your new house," Damon mentioned, "how's that whole process going?"

"Exhausting. But it's good that we're getting it done now. We were careful with the apartment contracts, so we'll be able to move out mid-January into our new place," Wasabi said.

"Is it nice? I'd hate to see you guys committing to something that won't be good for you in the future."

"It's very nice, very spacious. I feel like we've spent our whole lives crammed into one little space or another. Now that the kids are getting older, it'll be nice to spread out a little." GoGo didn't mention their upcoming arrival, not thinking it fair to bring up to Damon before Khary got a chance to hear. Despite their current relationship GoGo and Wasabi still loved Khary and they were excited to see him after he got done on stage. The production of It's A Wonderful Life was about to begin and they were all very excited.

"You'll have to have us over sometime when you move in! And of course, we'll help you guys with the moving process," Damon added hastily.

"Thanks, Damon." Wasabi felt more at ease right now, trying not to think of any possible confrontations waiting after the curtain call. He'd grabbed a program as he had for every single one of Khary's productions, intending to have his brother sign it at the end. It was almost like nothing had changed, but of course, everything had.

No one knew that Khary was facing the worst stage fright he'd ever had. They were minutes away from the start of the show and Khary was keeled over in his costume trying not to hurl, feeling so sick inside, from nervousness or something else. He wasn't scared about delivering the lines he knew by heart, he didn't worry about missing a single cue, but when he was done acting and had to put on a different mask, what if he couldn't sell the role? He'd done a terrible job so far of hiding the changes going on in his life, now as secrets piled up, he was afraid he was going to lose it.

If he made eye-contact with Wasabi he'd break. If he had to stare at his brother and say that everything was fine, that he hadn't made the worst mistake of his life over and over again these past three months, it would be all over for him. What if he wasn't that good of an actor? But he got on stage and pretended that it was Christmas and that it being Christmas was all that mattered. That the only thing that concerned him was getting his wings. His back and neck ached and when he wasn't on stage his whole body shuddered. He just had to contain it a little longer. Just had to lie a little longer. It was Christmas. He could be okay for Christmas. He could be an angel for Christmas.

He wished, more than anything, that he could ask for forgiveness for Christmas. He wanted to confess, wanted to come clean. But to confess would be to risk losing his family forever. It didn't matter how rocky their relationship had been lately. He couldn't do that. He just had to play his part.

"Uncle Khary, you were awesome!" Luca praised, fist-bumping his uncle when Khary came to meet them in the lobby. Khary beamed at his nephew, momentarily forgetting his shuddering shoulders and unbearable guilt.

"Thanks, Luca!" Then Khary looked up and met Wasabi's eyes and it all came crashing down.

"Sign my program?" Wasabi asked, as he had been doing for 16 years, ever since he discovered that performing was Khary's passion.

"Of course. Thanks for coming." Khary tried to keep his tone light, tried to swallow the lump in his throat and make it seem like it wasn't a big deal that his brother had come to his play. This program was an olive branch. A peace offering. Khary wished there could be peace.

"Always," Wasabi said and meant it, "we'll let you change and then we can all head to the restaurant." Khary nodded. Maybe if he wiped all the stage makeup off his face no one would think that he was still acting when he said that he was fine and sat down for Christmas pleasantries. Maybe Damon wouldn't say anything about getting phone calls. Maybe Wasabi wouldn't apologize, the way he always did for things that weren't his fault. Maybe things could feel normal for a minute, for a day. Khary would do his best to fake it no matter what.

"So the point of the play," Wyatt asked his cousins, "was that you're not supposed to wish that you were never born? But that's stupid, why would anyone ever wish they weren't born?" Wyatt had not gotten the point of the play.

"Maybe you'll get it when you're older," Luca said, thinking about the many times when he'd felt unwanted or unnecessary, goaded by his own delusions.

"Sometimes the world is just so big and you feel so small," Reese said with surprising eloquence.

"I'm not that little," 10-year-old Wyatt whined.

"We're all little, compared to the size of the world, or the moon, or the sun, or the stars," Reese corrected.

"I'm bigger than a star, stars are tiny," Wyatt argued.

"Stars are just super far away, bro. They're actually pretty big," Beckett finally chimed in.

"Oh. Do you think ants wish they had never been born? Because we're so much bigger than them?"

"I bet they do," Khary said, returning to the group looking refreshed and happy, "and I bet they have their own little antgels showing them why they're important." Everyone groaned at his joke except for Luca, who laughed a little.

"Let's head out." Damon decided, not letting there be any time for any awkwardness between Wasabi and Khary. He hadn't been there for their Thanksgiving blow up and he never intended to bring it up. One month of solitary should have given Khary enough time to realize the error of his actions. If Khary hadn't realized by now that he was in the wrong, there was nothing Damon could do to intervene to show him. But like Wasabi, Damon had no idea how wrong Khary actually was.

"So, Khary, how's your new apartment?" Wasabi asked when they reached the restaurant.

"Oh, it's good."

"Is it near Good Luck Alley?" Wasabi asked, holding his breath in fear of the response.

"Yeah, near the theatre."

"What's your roommate like? Can we meet them?" Khary shifted uncomfortably at the interrogation.

"He's cool. Super smart, has a bright future once he figures things out."

"Not brighter than you, I'm sure," GoGo joked, "you're already a star." Khary blushed a little.

"Thanks, GoGo. I'm glad you guys liked the play. We've all been working really hard on that for some time now."

"I think it's my second favorite of your plays," Luca said thoughtfully.

"Oh yeah? What was your favorite?"

"The Importance of Being Earnest."

Khary chuckled, "that was one of my favorites too. Algernon was a fun character. I think," he paused thoughtfully, "I think that if I ever had a kid I would either name them Ernest, Algernon, or Cecily."

GoGo elbowed Wasabi quickly and he caught the drift, "speaking of baby names, GoGo and I actually have an announcement. We just recently found out that we're having another baby!"

"Crap," Khary muttered suddenly, while everyone was congratulating the happy couple.

"What's wrong?" Wasabi asked, staring through Khary in a way that only an older brother could. Khary nearly jumped out of his skin.

"I just remembered something I have to do later. It's awesome that you're having another kid! Might I suggest the name Algernon?"

"I would never steal your name idea," Wasabi said with a laugh, feeling much lighter, much less worried for Khary.

"Besides," GoGo added, "the kids have naming dibs."

"Her name is going to be Scarlett," Reese said decidedly.

"Ooh, that's pretty," Crystal praised her niece, who smiled and blushed a little.

"Scarlett Tulip Tomago," Luca suggested.

"We'll talk about it," Wasabi said, laughing a little. His kids definitely got a say on the naming, but that didn't mean it would be Scarlett Tulip.

"I'm really happy for you guys. And you said you were moving?" Khary asked, trying not to squirm under Wasabi's gaze, a spotlight brighter than anything he'd ever been under before.

"Yeah, we started putting down payments and we'll be moving in about three weeks.

"Things are really moving fast, huh?" Khary said, almost choking on an ice cube when he went to take a drink of water.

"Faster than you could know. I hardly feel ready for all of this. But so long as I have GoGo with me, it doesn't matter how ready I am or am not. Together we can do anything." GoGo smiled and squeezed his hand, and Khary smiled at the lovely pair. But everything was changing, and it just didn't feel okay right now.


	21. Bonding Time

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It got longer than I meant it to. I'm excited about what's coming soon, although I'm not exactly certain of what comes next since I'm prone to add or discard chapter ideas on a whim.**

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 15 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed five of the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

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Wasabi was on a mission. Well, he was on several. The new year had started so he was worried about his curriculum, worried about his wife and her pregnancy, worried about packing and moving, worried about Khary, worried about everything. But he had a checklist, dedicated spaces of time for worrying. And now he was going to address a nagging worry that had been in the back of his mind for some time.

"Reese, how about we spend some time, just the two of us, this afternoon? We can go get lunch, maybe go to that sporting store you like." That was all it took to sell Reese on the idea. Really she just liked the occasional one-on-one time with either of her parents, but throw in a chance to go to Sports Palace? She was there.

"Awesome."

"Go ahead and get ready and we'll leave in a minute, okay?" Reese went off to get ready for the day and Wasabi sidled up to his wife, gently wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm taking Reese out," he said quietly. GoGo had already gone back to work and he officially started back on Monday, though there had been plenty of meetings already. He felt guilty about how tired she'd been lately, felt guilty that his job didn't demand more from him, guilty that she couldn't take more days off.

"Mm-hm, I heard, why are you telling me?"

"I wanted to talk to her about things. I feel like… Well, you told me what she said. Reese and I are more alike than she knows. I want to see if I can get her to open up a little about things, let her ask questions and stuff."

GoGo kissed his chin, "that's a good idea. I did what I could but if you can connect to her maybe she'll be able to see that there's attainable help out there."

"Exactly. And I was thinking, since Reese and I will be gone, you could spend a little extra time with Luca. Scout's not coming over today because he has a study group and Luca just really hates being alone."

"Of course. You and Reese will have your day and Luca and I will have ours."

"I know he'd be happy just staying in and hanging out with you. Don't overexert yourself, darling. If you get tired, rest."

"I've been tired non-stop for three weeks, Wasabi. I think I know to rest."

"Just because you know it doesn't mean you do it," Wasabi pointed out with a smirk and a kiss, "the woman I married would hardly sit down for anything, except maybe to put her feet on the table." She jabbed him a bit with her elbow, but he had a point.

"I'm ready!" Reese called, wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt that proclaimed her involvement in the Berkeley Junior Triathlon.

"I love you!" Wasabi said, kissing GoGo's cheek, "have fun with Luca!"

"You two have fun!" GoGo called back, watching her husband and their daughter leave before seeing if her teenage son was even awake yet. But just because she'd been sleeping in on Saturdays as of late didn't mean Luca wasn't up as early as always.

"So, Reese, is there anything you want to talk about?" Wasabi asked as they drove towards Joe's Diner.

"Like?"

"Like school, life, anything that's been on your mind." Reese thought for a second before coming up with the most pressing topic.

"Why'd you kick out Uncle Khary? I mean I know it was because he mentioned your mom but… Why is that a big deal?" Wasabi inhaled sharply. He'd said anything, though, so he would talk about anything.

"Reese, you know that I have OCD, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's manageable, now, everything is manageable now, but when I was younger it was a bit self-destructive. I didn't seem or feel normal and people like Uncle Damon and Uncle Khary were really concerned about me, even if they didn't always know how to show it," Wasabi sighed.

"The first time I went to therapy I was ten and I felt like such a freak that I wouldn't let it help me. I remember waiting outside the office before it started trying to remember how to breathe because the concept of being dissected made me feel like a mutant or something. There was piano playing in the background, trying to relax the people in the waiting room, and it sounded angry and judgmental. I was so scared, Reese. I didn't know it was normal to get help, I didn't know it was okay, that I was okay, because there were people in my life who treated me like a freak. And one of those people was your grandmother. She always measured me against Damon, she would guilt me for needing more from them than my brothers did, for needing order and control. She'd punish me for the slightest rule break, being a minute late for dinner meant a month of grounding. She was horrible to me and made me feel like it was all my fault. And when therapy failed the first time she just gave up on me. It was far easier to pretend that her kid didn't have OCD or any other issues than to admit that it wouldn't be as easy a fix as they hoped. Everything else she did to me didn't matter as much as that did. She basically told me that I wasn't normal, but I better behave like I was or else I'd earn her wrath. She basically told me that she didn't care about me enough to fix me as long as I acted like I was fine."

"She sounds like a-" Wasabi gave his daughter a look.

"-bad person," Reese finished.

"What happened to her?"

"Nothing happened to her. I just cut her out of my life because it was much healthier to live like I didn't have a mother than to interact with her. Your mom and I did what we could to help Khary, and we've been avoiding her ever since."

"What's up with Uncle Khary, though? Do you think he's okay? Do you think he did something wrong?"

"I'm always inclined to think that I did something wrong instead, but yes, Reese, I think he's dealing with some things. I have no idea what, though. I hope he figures it out. Your mom and I are always going to be there for him if he decides he needs our help, but if he needs space, we'll give that instead."

"So…" Reese started, "So, like… You didn't kick him out for good? You still want to help him? You forgive him despite what he said about you?"

"Of course I forgive him. He's my little brother. I love him. I couldn't kick him out of my life for good."

"But what about your mom? You kicked her out of your life for good."

"Khary is someone who is hurting and in his pain, he lashed out at me and has apologized for the pain he caused me. Hurt people hurt people. I can forgive him for lashing out. I can't forgive my mother for hurting me for so many years, never once considering that my rejection of her was her fault. But I think I know what you're getting at, Reese, and I want you to know that there's not a single thing that you could do that would cause me to cut you out of my life."

"But what if-"

"I've been there, Reese. I've gone down every single possibility. There's nothing shy of murdering our entire family that would make me hate you. I might get mad at you sometimes, and there will be consequences for the things you do, but I will always love you. Your mom and I both."

"Did it help?"

"What?'

"Going to therapy the second time."

"It did."

"So you'd recommend it?"

"Highly."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"Then we'll try again when you're ready, and only when you're ready. But we won't stop trying to help you, even if therapy is not the right way to go about it."

"Was the whole purpose of this day to convince me to go to therapy?"

"No, of course not. I just couldn't see my baby girl be unhappy anymore."

"I'm not your baby girl," Reese said, blushing at the affection, secretly liking it a little.

"You'll always be my baby girl," Wasabi promised, smiling when he saw a small smile stretch over Reese's face.

"What happened to your dad?" She asked suddenly.

"Dad refused to admit that what mom did to me was harmful. I know he cared about me, but he chose mom, so I chose you and Luca. You met him once when you were born, and I met with him a couple of times when we still lived in Berkeley, but he stopped deserving second chances."

"And you promise you could never give up on me or Luca like that?"

"As long as I'm alive."

"Even if you love the new kid more than us?" Reese said, half-joking.

"I'm going to love all my children, no matter what."

"Scout's totally your kid now, right?" He'd said they could talk about anything, so Reese hopped from topic to topic as soon as a new one came into her mind.

"Hm?"

"Like there's no doubt about it anymore, you totally love him like a son, right?"

Wasabi chuckled, "Yeah, I can't very well lie about that. It's hard not to be there for someone who needs what your mom and I needed when we were kids."

"I'm going to tell Luca he's not allowed to bring in anymore strays," another half-joke, "but I kind of like him though. Scout. As a brother. He's not half bad."

"He is not half bad. Hopefully, with a little help from people like us, he'll continue down the path of not being half bad."

"That's four kids then, plus Khary. I just… I don't get how you have that much love." Reese was frugal with her love. The largest portion of it went to Luca, her womb-mate, her best friend. Then her parents, then trickle down to family, faux aunts and uncles, her friends, Luca's friends. When it came to Luca's friends, there was a drought.

Wasabi laughed suddenly, "You know? I think the very same thing when Luca talks about how many friends he has."

"Thank you! You get it!" Reese exploded with happiness, "His lunch table is a fire hazard!"

"It's okay to not feel comfortable around people, sweetheart," Wasabi said as they pulled up to Joe's Diner.

"Mom said that too."

"And we mean it. And if it feels like right now you don't have a lot of love to give, that's okay too. Things change, hearts change and grow. People become more comfortable with the right people. I'm confident that there will be a lot of good people in your life who will teach you that." He thought about how he and GoGo had slowly warmed up to physical touch.

"I just don't know if I'm worth waiting for," Reese blurted as they got out of the car.

"I get that too," Wasabi said with a sad sigh, "trust me when I say that it's more important to love yourself before you worry about loving other people. But if, sometimes, it's easier to love other people that's okay too. Whatever capacity for love you have now will, in the long run, help you love the people in your life deserving of love, whether that's yourself first or others first… Does any of that make sense?"

"Not completely," Reese admitted, as they headed into the diner, the gears turning in her head, "I think you're saying it's okay if my love is small right now, and that I should try to love myself before I love other people, but if I can't, that's okay?"

"It's okay as a starting place, Reese. Not as a destination. At the end of the road, you should be able to find love for yourself."

"How does one do that?"

"Well, one good place to start is to keep the people who love you in your life. Me, your mom, Luca, your aunts and uncles…" They paused the conversation to order and Reese began to rip apart her straw wrapper, throwing balled-up bits of the wrapper at her dad.

Wasabi laughed, "Stop that." Reese laughed as well, looking at her lap.

"Do you want to keep talking about this? Wasabi asked, picking up on her distress and knowing how stressful it could be to address these things all at once. How overwhelming it could be.

"Not really. But I'll let you know when I am. And I'll uh… I'll let you know when I'm ready to talk to anyone else, too…" Wasabi smiled.

"You can come to me at any time. I'll never be too busy for you, sweetheart. I'll never give up on you." Their food arrived within minutes and they settled in to eat.

Luca was cooking at home. He'd insisted, and he knew a little, so he was making mac and cheese while GoGo scrolled through Disney + for something they could watch.

"How is school?"

"I mean it just started back up," Luca said with a shrug, "so it's fine."

"Anything special happening?"

"Oh, there's a new girl, Charlotte."

"You going to talk to her?"

"Already have." GoGo laughed.

"Of course you have. I'm proud of you," Luca brought over a bowl of mac and cheese and she ruffled his hair. He scrunched his face up a little and smiled. They weren't supposed to eat on the couch, but neither of them really cared for that rule.

"Are you actually excited about having a new sibling?" GoGo asked, having been a little worried that Luca was putting on an act.

"Oh yeah, I'm glad our family is growing. The more people the better."

"I'm glad you feel that way," GoGo said, leaning forward as she selected a superhero movie, "I'm a little nervous, honestly." Luca was surprised.

"You're nervous?"

"Yep. Change always makes me a little nervous," she admitted.

"Me too," Luca said, resting his head on her shoulder. She wrapped an arm around him.

"I'm just happy that I know I have my family with me every step of the way." Luca glanced at the movie.

"I know how this one ends," he said.

"Sometimes it's good to have a happy ending you can count on."


	22. Couch Bed

**So I've re-evaluated :)**

**The end of the Khary arc is in sight! It was further away but now it's closer because I smushed three chapter ideas into this one? But I also added a chapter so... Yeah. It's close, but there's still like three chapters after this one before the Khary thing.**

**In case anyone is wondering, GoGo is eleven weeks pregnant in this chapter! In case anyone else was wondering, this will be the last time I pay attention to that kind of thing! **

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 15 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed five of the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistent than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

* * *

It took Reese about ten minutes to pick out the table she wanted for the turtle she was getting and a cool, purple, egg-shaped swing chair and then she was done picking out furniture for her new room, after all, she was getting the desk that she and Luca had shared and she'd already gotten a basketball hoop for the wall in her new room. Luca took more time than that. Luca needed his room to become party central. Or, more likely, model central. He'd already picked his gorgeous vanity/desk combo and was looking for a sofa bed combo to put by the door. He and Wasabi were arguing a little bit over things.

"Luca, you don't need a couch."

"Dad. Dad." Luca looked Wasabi in the eye, about to lay down a convincing argument, "I need a sofa bed. I want to have people over. I want to have a place for Scout if things get worse with Andrew. I want to have a space for my friends to sit and hang out in my room, a place for sleepovers, a place where I can hang out if I want to, maybe a place to watch movies with Reese. Having a couch in my room would be so good to expand my social circle."

"Your social circle is already massive, Luca. You can get a chair for your room but I don't think you need a sofa."

"Please, dad! I won't ask for anything else all year."

"You can't promise that, Luca. And I don't want you to. I never want you or your sister to think you can't ask for things but that doesn't mean I can get you everything you ask for."

"Listen, what if I found the cheapest couch here?"

"It's not a price thing, Luca! You don't have enough room in your new bedroom for a couch and vanity and your bookshelves and bed."

"Can I get a smaller bed?" Luca asked, trying to make things work, "or maybe I could get mounted shelves for my books? The couch feels important to me. I'd be willing to downsize anything else." Wasabi sighed, preparing to give in.

"Mounted shelves would work. We have to pick out this couch together though. I don't want you picking something that wouldn't even fit in your room."

Reese and GoGo were peacefully picking out gender-neutral stuff for the baby room while Luca and Wasabi argued over a bedroom couch.

"You're getting several pieces of furniture on this trip, Luca, so we're going to hold off on getting decorations this time. Some other time, okay?"

"It's fine, I'll just make stuff to decorate with. Scout'll help me, he's a good artist. A lot of my friends are, actually. I don't think you've met Zayne yet, he's crazy good at abstract, so maybe he'll help me with a wall piece."

"I'd like to meet this kid, then. You should have him over soon."

"Yeah!" Luca paused, "Though… He's a little…"

"A little what?" Wasabi asked, immediately concerned.

"Yeah, so, Zayne is like the opposite of Scout. But he's still a good kid, even if he doesn't act like it all of the time."

"If you can vouch for him, Luca, you can have him over. I trust your judgment." Maybe Luca's judgment wasn't sound, but Wasabi would still encourage him nonetheless. And if Luca was wrong, it was a learning opportunity. It had taken a lot of learning opportunities for Wasabi to learn to trust his kids. It was never without fear, but it was always with love.

"Cool. Thanks, dad. I think you'll like him. I'll see when he's free!"

"Awesome. So… Is this the couch?" They stood in front of a navy blue futon.

"This is the couch. My room is going to be awesome."

They'd moved in last weekend, with just their beds and the one desk in Reese's room. It was nice for them to have their own spaces, they hadn't had it much, lately, or well, ever. They'd been here since last Saturday, a full week now. And time heals all wounds, but that didn't mean they weren't both aching a little bit from the wall between them.

Reese thought that distance would do them some good. After all, she wasn't the one who freaked out when she was alone. Alone was a breath of fresh air! Alone was excellent. So why was Luca the one who was coping so much better than her? Why did she feel so stressed out? Why was it so hard to fall asleep without nightmares?

She crept into Luca's room, just to see if he was awake. But he wasn't. Which was fine. She didn't need him. She was fine. She turned around quickly and her leg slammed into his futon, causing her to sputter expletives she wasn't supposed to know and drawing her attention to the brand new sofa. She noticed a pillow set out on the edge, and a folded up crochet blanket. Dad had made that blanket. She ran her fingers over the soft material, letting out a bottled up sigh. She glanced at Luca, who hadn't seemed to move from his spot in his bed, except maybe a knowing twitch. Then she gathered the blanket into her arms and settled in on the folded up futon.

"I think I heard something?" Wasabi said. He'd been so freaked out lately, especially as they moved into a new house in a new neighborhood and brought a new life into the world.

"Yeah?" GoGo said, thinking it was bullcrap and wishing that he would just let them sleep but appreciating that he was so concerned about their family.

"I'm going to check on the kids." Wasabi sprung out of bed. He didn't care that it was late, he didn't care that they both needed sleep. He didn't care about anything but their family. He would protect their family, no matter what. No matter how big their family got.

"Okay." He kissed her cheek and then he got up, hesitating one moment more to kiss the barely noticeable bump, causing GoGo to laugh in surprise.

"Dork," she mumbled to herself as she watched him leave, sinking deep under the covers.

Wasabi bee-lined up the stairs toward Luca's room, sure he'd heard someone in there. The door hadn't been cracked open earlier, had it? He cracked it wider, his heart racing. His fear settled when he saw that Luca was safe in bed, with Reese curled up on the futon. He kissed their foreheads and left, closing the door.

"It was nothing," he explained as he climbed back into bed, pulling her close to him and siphoning her warmth.

"Yeah? I guessed as much."

"Though I understand why Luca wanted that futon now…" GoGo merely snuggled into him, silently bidding him to go to sleep.


	23. Crepes

**Hello loves! I hope you're reading this author's note because forewarning, I drop a bombshell in the first paragraph of this chapter! But it was absolutely hinted at in chapter 19 and I don't think I can be expected to apologize for excluding the nitty-gritty of the Honeyzilla relationship when Wasabi, GoGo, Luca, Reese, and Baby 3 matters more. Also, I once again am using my fake canon name for Honey Lemon, which is Itzel Rodriguez. Just want to normalize that :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 14 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed five of the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

* * *

The two former roommates sat across from each other in a quaint crepe cafe near the harbor, GoGo devouring her savory crepe and Honey Lemon picking at her sweet one. At 14 weeks, the nausea was letting up on GoGo, but at 12 weeks, Honey Lemon was still affected by aversions. GoGo was one of the only people who knew about the pregnancy since Honey Lemon and Fred hadn't been out as a couple yet when she'd gotten pregnant. Her family didn't know, his family didn't know. They were both overwhelmed by the idea that if he popped the question formally now, a question he'd unofficially asked before Christmas, her entire family would think that the man they'd barely met was only proposing to Itzel because of the baby. Which couldn't be further from the truth. So a lot of stress was building up. To the point that a few times the past two weeks Honey Lemon had called GoGo in tears freaking out about how they were going to tell her parents and siblings that she was having a kid.

GoGo was very patient. She'd been through this before, after all, in a way. When she'd been pregnant with the twins she and Wasabi had gone back and forth about when to tell his parents, or if they even wanted to. So she was always willing to take Honey Lemon's panicked phone calls, always happy to remind her that it was okay to be scared, that her new little family was the most important thing, and that the people who mattered would support her and Fred no matter what.

"Thanks, GoGo, for everything," Honey Lemon said with a satisfied sigh as she continued to pick at the crepe in front of her.

"No problem. I'm always happy to be here for you. For anything. You need help picking out a crib or nursery stuff, I'm there." Honey Lemon beamed.

"I'm so happy that we're both going through this at the same time! Our kids are going to be best friends!"

"Absolutely. Plus there's little Kaida. They'll all grow up together."

"Have you and Wasabi picked a name out yet?"

"No, we probably won't settle on anything until after the gender reveal, but that just gives the twins more time to plot."

"Ooh, are you having a gender reveal party?"

"It's only fair, we had one for the twins. Luca and Wasabi practically insisted on it. I know that Reese is still having a hard time getting used to the idea of having another sibling. But she's been warming up to it too."

"You guys are such a cute family," Honey Lemon enthused, grinning at her friend.

"Thanks. You and Fred will make a really cute family too."

"What's the current winner for the baby's name?"

"There's no winner, per se, but the current front runner for a girl's name is Winter Adele and the current front runner for a boy is Taylor Grant."

"They realize the baby is going to be born in Summer, right?"

"I don't think they do. Winter was the last thing I heard, yesterday. By tomorrow their future little sister will be named Topaz Ruth or whatever. They've been generating names faster than even I can keep up with. Last week their future little brother was named Landon Vermont before they got into a huge argument about not giving the kid a first name that corresponded with one of their initials. Later tonight Winter will be vetoed because it's too similar to Wesley and they'll totally forget how similar Luca is to Leiko… It's a mess," she chuckled.

"It's nice that they care so much," Honey Lemon said, excited about her own future child.

"I assume you've thought about names?"

"Well, it's easy for a boy. Frederick Frederickson V."

"Of course."

"We have no idea what we're going to do if it's a girl, though."

"Are you going to have a gender reveal party?"

"No… Probably not. Since we haven't told many people about the baby yet it doesn't make sense."

"Your family knows that you two are dating, right?"

"Right, but basically only you know that he asked me to marry him before Christmas, and none of them know about the baby…" The stress returned to her voice and GoGo put a hand on Honey Lemon's hand.

"I know you're really stressed, Honey Lemon. But I know your family loves and supports you, Fred's family too. This could be really fun for you. Why don't you and Fred brainstorm some fun, creative ways to tell your families about the baby? I'm sure your parents would be thrilled to find out that they're going to have another grandchild. And I know that no one would look at how in love you and Fred are and think that he's only marrying you because you're carrying his child. And if they don't believe you, that's their problem." Honey Lemon let out a shaky breath.

"You're right. I'll talk to him about it later."

"And…" GoGo said thoughtfully, "You could always just do it."

"Do what?"

"Get married. You could be eloped by next Tuesday if you wanted." Honey Lemon blinked in surprise.

"You're right but… I think I want my son or daughter to be a part of the wedding. Like for real. Not like a barely noticeable bump."

"Is Fred as excited as Wasabi is?"

"He's thrilled. He won't stop showering me with gifts and kisses. I'm just the teensiest bit glad to be here on my own."

"Amen to that," GoGo said with a laugh, "I love my family, but it's nice to have some me-time with an old friend."

"I'm glad that we could meet up, GoGo. We should do this again next time we get a chance."

"I don't think that that will happen any time soon. Right now our house is all glittery and lovey-dovey as the twins prepare for Valentine's Day. Mostly Luca, I have to admit. After Valentine's Day, it's just gonna be the next thing. There's always the next thing. That's the only thing I can tell you about parenting, Honey Lemon, things are just going to keep happening. The years start coming and they don't stop coming"

Honey Lemon laughed, "I'm engaged to Fred Frederickson. I think I know a thing or two about that."

"It's going to be much harder than handling an adult kid. But hard is not impossible. You're going to be a great mom."

"Thanks, GoGo. You're already a great mom. I aspire to be half as good as you."

"I'm sure you'll be even better, I'm excited to see our kids grow up together."

"Me too."

I'm lowkey setting up a sequel/spin-off about these future babies, already have the first draft of a first chapter and plans for the twins, etc. That won't happen for a while, but now that one cat is out of the bag, I decided I'd mention what you can expect in the sequel


	24. Valentine's Day

**I really love this chapter!**

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 14 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot if like three more people went and reviewed five of the chapters from this point. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

* * *

"This is stupid," Reese said, sitting at the counter next to her brother and staring at the massive mound of cards in front of him.

"It's not stupid, it's heartfelt."

"It's ridiculous. You have too many friends to make each of them a personalized Valentine. You can't do it."

"I can do anything I put my mind to."

"That's not true, you can't play basketball and you got 50% on the last geography test."

"Geography is hard."

"I know, I got a 60 on it."

"If I try hard enough I can absolutely make a card for each one of my friends."

"But what if you forget one? Or if you do one of them twice? Or you confuse the ones for people with the same name? What if you write a card for Hunter 1 and give it to Hunter 2?"

"I would never confuse Hunter 1 and Hunter 2. Hunter 2 is one of my best friends, I'm not gonna just hand him the wrong card."

"Are you going to make me a card?"

"Well, not in front of you."

"That's fair. Are you going to make a nicer card for Scout than you do for the others?"

"I don't know yet, I'm saving his for last."

"What if, and this is just speculation, no one else at school cares as much about Valentine's day as you do?"

"That's fine. I think that everyone is going to appreciate getting a card tomorrow anyway."

"But why?"

"Because everyone needs a little bit of encouragement every now and then. And if a little card on an overly commercial holiday helps them feel more important, then I'm going to make hundreds of little cards. Because they're all important to me. And I don't need you to understand that, Reese, and I don't need them to be important to you. Because you're important to me, but I only care about basketball because it's important to you. I only care about soccer because you care about soccer. You don't expect me to care about sports beyond that, and I don't expect you to care about my friends beyond basic human respect."

Reese stared at him for a second, stunned. It meant a lot to her that he cared so much about people, especially since she had such a hard time doing the same.

All she said was, "You're weird."

"I know," he said with a laugh. And then she left to go make him his Valentine's day card.

Luca was up late that night finishing up his lengthy love letters to all the people in his life that brightened his day. For his friends and classmates, for his teachers, for his parents, for his aunts and uncles. He didn't hold back, he wrote and wrote and wrote. He even wrote one for his future sibling, penning this heartfelt little note about how excited he was to meet the kid in approximately 26 weeks. He and Reese hadn't picked out a name yet, though they were still suggesting them to that day.

"Jeremy, like that one musical that Uncle Khary wasn't supposed to show us," Luca suggested when they were getting ready in the morning.

"Jeremy what?"

"Jeremy Carson? We could sing to him, it's always so pretty when they sing Jeremy in the musical."

Reese laughed and sang, "Jeremy, is in big bad trouble right now…" She actually had a very pretty voice.

Luca continued, "It's a trouble that he can't see, but we've gotta help him somehow…"

"We can't name him Jeremy Carson, we can't give him JC initials. That stands for Jesus Christ, Luca. Jesus Christ figures have to be the hero, the protagonist! Our little bro or sis should just be able to be themselves. I bet that they're going to be an introvert."

"Aw, man, I can't be the only extrovert in the family," Luca said as he loaded cards into his backpack. They added a couple of pounds to his already heavy load.

"How about Jeremy Paul?" Reese suggested.

"No. Jeremy Aaron?"

"We can't use Aaron, that's grandpa's name."

"Oh yeah."

"What about Sam?"

"Jeremy Sam?"

"No, Sam as a first name. Gender-neutral, like my name."

"Sam what?"

"Well, if it was a girl her full name should be Samantha Elise?" Reese said, adding, "And if it was a boy, maybe Samuel Elliot."

"I like Elliot. Jeremy Elliot."

"Nah, Jeremy's already gone."

"Sam's gone. We're keeping Elliot as a middle name," Luca decided.

"Okay. That's a gender-neutral name too, actually. Sam Elliot could be a girl or a boy."

"Sam Elliot isn't going to exist! Sam doesn't fit with Reese and Luca. We have cool people names. They need a cool people name too."

"You're such a dork," Reese said with a laugh, as they headed for the car, "how do you feel about the name Hillary?"

"I don't like it, but H could be good. Maybe Heather?"

"Like that other musical Uncle Khary wasn't supposed to show us?"

"Oh yeah. Not Heather. Harper? That's a cute name, and gender-neutral."

"Harper Elliot? Maybe."

"I miss Winter, to be honest," Luca said.

"We can't name a baby Winter if they were born in July."

"Yeah but there's that really pretty AJR song…"

"Nonetheless, no Winter. Maybe when you have kids."

"What about when you have kids?" Luca asked, arms crossed.

"I'm not having kids."

Luca stared at her for a second before he answered, "Okay. Sounds good. Then Harper and I will provide mom and dad with grandkids."

"No rush," GoGo said from the front seat, cluing them into her involvement in the conversation, "Harper and I are good right now." Luca laughed a little.

"I got you a card, mom! I'll give everyone in the family their cards tonight at dinner."

"Thanks, Luca. I got you guys some things for Valentine's day as well."

"Oh, cool! Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Have a good day at school, guys!"

Luca waved as she left and then began the labor-intensive act of delivering a lot, lot, lot of love letters. None of them were actually romantic, but each of them was detailed enough to tell his friends the reasons why he cared about them. Everyone was super excited to get them, even Zayne, though he pretended it was lame. Scout nearly cried when he read the sweet card. Many of them had a card for him in return, or some candy, or a stuffed animal. He was the king of middle school, after all, so he made many, many trips to his locker to fill it with the presents from his peasants. He carried one giant stuffed dog around with him for the whole day, unable to fit it in his locker. He named it much faster than he and Reese were able to name their future sibling, calling the giant plushie Comet, since Nova had given it to him.

Reese didn't get the same shower of affection. She exchanged cards with her basketball team, and Addison brought in cookies. Sara made the three of them matching friendship bracelets and then Reese considered the holiday over. Until right before lunch, when she had to get her lunch bag out of her locker. Her brother's locker, right next to hers, was overflowing with affection from his followers, and she was happy for him. She knew that she and Scout would be helping to carry all of that to the car at the end of the day. She'd even made Scout a card the way she'd made Luca one. He was like family now. But she didn't expect him to make her a card. She didn't expect anyone to notice her at all. She would have preferred that.

Until her locker door swung open and a piece of paper fluttered out. She picked it up, assuming it was meant for Luca's locker and saw her name at the top. Her name. She didn't freak out right away. Then she read a little further down the letter and instantly crumpled it up, booking it to Luca's table and trying not to cry.

"Which one of you sick freaks wrote this?" She half-screamed at his pool of friends, thrusting the letter in front of Luca, who had been the center attention anyway.

"What? What's wrong, Reese? Are you okay?"

"I didn't ask for a love letter!" Reese continued to freak out, louder than she had intended, "I didn't ask for a secret admirer. It's cowardly to keep it a secret and it's unwanted entirely! So kindly shove your degrading assessment of my body and what you'd like to do to it up your butt!" At this point, a teacher had come over and taken her to the nurse's office to calm down. Luca then read the letter, getting this calm, quiet, angry look on his face.

"Listen, I don't care who wrote this. I still value all of you as friends but you cannot cross this line ever again, you hear me? You cannot sexualize my twin sister, you cannot put her in this position and expect her to feel happy about it. She's 13! I'm not mad at any of you. But I will be if you try any other advances on my sister, whether or not you thought it was romantic."

"You should go check on her," Scout suggested, "if anyone confesses I'll let you know."

"Okay." Luca grabbed his backpack and headed for the nurse's office, where he found his sister crying and hugging herself, arguing with the nurse.

"I don't care if it's mean, they were mean. I'm not going to apologize!"

"You shouldn't have to," Luca said, immediately taking her side, "I told them that if it was them that that letter wasn't okay. I know you don't really like romance."

"It was gross, Luca…"

"I know, I read it. Disgusting. But you're better than that, Reese. You're worth more than some crude confession shoved inside your locker. I wrote you a card, I was going to give it to you at dinner, but you can read it now." Luca pulled the letter out of his backpack and handed it to her.

"Thanks…" She sniffled, opening it and then reading it, tears continuing to fall.

Luca's letter read:

Dear Reese,

You're my very best friend. From the beginning, you've always been there, and I know you always will be. So I'll always be there for you. No matter what happens we'll go into the future together. I know that we're unstoppable together because you're unstoppable alone. You're the best person I know. You're so strong and awesome. When you put your mind to something you always accomplish it. I'm so proud of you and so inspired by you. You make me want to be better. You make me better. I'm so excited to take on the world with you, Reese Renee. You never have to change for anyone. Keep being you.

Love,

Luca.

"Oh my gosh, Luca," she said through tears, "did you write something this stupidly sappy for everyone?" Luca laughed, wrapping an arm around his sister.

"Not exactly, mostly just family, including Scout. I tried to put a little extra love for the people I thought needed it, too, like Hunter 2 and Zayne and the new girl, Charlotte?"

"Charlotte's a pretty name. Reminds me of the children's book."

"We're not naming our future sister Charlotte."

"Too basic?"

"Too basic. Don't forget, we're super cool people."

"We are super cool people. I wrote you a letter too. Here." She pulled her own letter out of her bag. Luca tentatively opened it.

Dear Luca,

You make me feel secure, in this world that's constantly shifting and changing. You're a weirdo and I don't necessarily understand you all of the time, but you're always there for me, and I'm always going to be there for you. You're my best friend and I can't imagine a world without you, and I don't want to. Even if we're miles apart, you'll always be my brother, so we'll always be kind of together. Thank you for being yourself, Luca, thank you for caring about people and about me. Even if I can't always show it, I care about you too. I love you.

-Reese

"Aww, Reese, you're a big softie."

"Am not!"

"Come here." He opened his arms for a hug and she readily accepted it.

"Reese?" The nurse asked, "Do you want to go home early? I can call one of your parents."

"No, it's okay, I'm fine. I'm sorry for the outburst."

"It's okay, it's perfectly understandable to be overwhelmed by a situation. If you change your mind, just let a teacher know."

Luca walked out with her, an arm wrapped around his sister, "I'll intervene if anything like this ever happens again, I promise."

"I know you will, dork," Reese said with half of a smile.

"Things will get better," Luca promised.

"Whatever you say, Lu. I think… I think I'm going to see if I can start talking to someone. Like mom and dad suggested. Today sucked. I want to see if I can… Not feel like that, again." Luca gave her a second big hug.

"I really am so proud of you. I love you," he said into the hug. Reese laughed a little.

"Thanks… I love you too."

* * *

**No promises that Baby 3 will have the names discussed in any of the chapters leading up to the actual birth. No promise that Baby 3 won't have the names discussed in any of the chapters leading up to the actual birth.**


	25. Not A Bad Kid

**This chapter is way longer than I thought it would be! I couldn't resist writing all the parts and at this point, I can't stop myself at a thousand words. If it's short, great, but these days it hasn't been, and I'm going to take that as an improvement. I'm happy with my writing, I hope you guys are too. I really love these characters, they all mean a lot to me, I hope they mean something to you.**

**Next up? The climax of the Khary Arc. I can't honestly call it the ending because there will be the aftermath, but this is what I've been hyping up for a while, and I'm so, so, so excited for you all to see it.**

**Enjoy!**

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 11 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

* * *

Wasabi had some regrets. He felt terrible about shutting Luca down when he was so excited about something, so, like Wasabi had said he could, Luca had invited his friend Zayne over for dinner. Wasabi had gently drawn the line at a sleepover but with Zayne and Scout coming over things were getting out of hand. He was in charge of dinner, of course, not wanting to put pressure on his 17-weeks-pregnant wife who was starting to really show a baby bump. Of course, he thought that GoGo was gorgeous as always but that didn't mean she wasn't tired and a little grouchy, also not excited about the prospect of a dinner guest.

But Luca was so excited, so happy. He assured both his parents that Zayne wasn't actually a bad kid, an argument Luca had never had to make about kids who weren't bad kids. Luca had never had to sit his parents down and tell them that Scout or the Hunters or any of the boys who had paraded through their old apartment in search of a headshot wasn't a bad kid. The fact that this argument was being made for Zayne wasn't reassuring.

"I wouldn't mind as much if this was one of your students. You keep saying that you're going to have them over for a barbecue," GoGo grumbled the morning of, getting ready to make sure her kids were eating breakfast.

"Maybe in May. Closer to finals, when everyone needs a break."

"I need a break," GoGo retorted.

"I know darling. I love you!"

"I love you too." GoGo left him dressing for Friday classes and went to check on her kids. Surprisingly enough only Reese was outside and ready, though the opposite was usually true.

"Where's your brother?" Reese shrugged and gestured towards the stairs.

"Luca!" GoGo yelled upstairs, "Hurry up, mister! You're not missing breakfast!"

"Be down in a minute!"

"Hey, mom?" Reese started.

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Can I wear makeup?" That came out of nowhere, but GoGo was prepared.

"Oh, sure. You're thirteen. I can help you get some."

"So… Could Luca wear makeup?" Leiko blinked in surprise.

"Well, he's also thirteen, so… Yeah."

"Luca! Mom said yes!" Reese yelled up the stairs. The door to his bedroom opened and GoGo's thirteen-year-old swaggered downstairs, wearing eyeliner and mascara. GoGo stared at him for a second before smiling.

"Wow, your eyes really pop, Luca."

Luca blushed and smiled, "Thanks, mom."

"So what made you want to wear makeup?" GoGo asked, making sure he was eating before grabbing some breakfast for herself.

"Well, a lot of my friends are really good with makeup, and they do it when they're here and some of them have been teaching me how to do it and it seemed really fun and artistic and also like, Uncle Khary wears makeup on and off the stage, so… And I know some people will think it's girly but that's stupid because you can be as masculine or feminine as you want and it doesn't really matter what you put on your face, right?"

"Right. I don't wear a lot of makeup and I keep my hair pretty short but I'm still a woman. You and Khary wear makeup and you're still you. Your dad and I fully support this."

"So dad's not going to freak out?"

"He didn't freak out over Khary wearing makeup."

"Thanks, mom. This is what I'm comfortable with right now but we'll see how things change. I'm excited to try new stuff."

"I'm proud of you for trying new things. It's good. And if you think you already know who you are," she glanced at her daughter with a proud, maternal smile, "that's good too."

Recently Reese had started seeing a counselor, talking through her occasionally panic-inducing introversion, not because she needed to change who she was but because she wanted to be more comfortable being herself. Not every session felt like it was helping but every session was a step towards a goal. Luca didn't know if he would pursue therapy himself any time soon, but it made him happy to see someone helping his sister, and it made him think about what he could change and improve in his own life. A little mascara was the start of a revolution.

"So Shane is coming over for dinner?" Reese asked, actually really proud of her brother's little revolution but only showing it by her willingness to bring up the makeup.

"His name is Zayne and you know it," Luca said with a laugh.

"Oh, that reminds me of a name I saw, Seamus. Seamus Elliot."

"Are we still on Elliot?" GoGo asked, smiling a little because she thought it was cute that they were still bickering over first names but had both settled on Elliot without as much as a second thought.

"Oh yeah. Brother or sister, their middle name is going to be Elliot," Luca said, very seriously.

"Sounds good. Your dad and I like it," she said with a smile.

"Good, because it's settled," Reese said with no real authority, "so, Seamus?"

"I don't know. It's not my favorite. It sounds cool, but is it?"

"Sparrow."

"Sparrow Elliot doesn't sound good."

"Okay that's fair but I really like Raven and we can't use it because of my stupid name."

"Reese Renee!" GoGo scolded, "Your name was very carefully chosen."

"Raven Elliot does sound nice though," Luca said sadly.

"What about Wren, that's another type of bird."

"Nah, we said no W names because of Wesley. Why are you hung up on birds anyway, Reese?"

"I don't know, I like birds. Birds are cool. And we're trying to find a cool people name for baby."

"Baby Elliot. Just Baby. That'll be their name."

"No," GoGo interjected, "anyways, you two need to hurry up we have to get to school."

"Alright, sorry mom. We'll think more about this later. Mallory?"

"Mallory is pretty. Mallory Elliot…" Reese sang. She'd been singing more, snippets of musicals that Khary had played for them, random phrases, potential baby names. Luca joined in on her joyous symphony occasionally, always happy to see Reese happy.

"Uriah," Luca pitched in as they got in the car.

"No, we vetoed Vowel names. It's not the trend in this family." GoGo stifled a laugh from the front seat. The fact that this discussion had been going on for almost 12 weeks now always brightened her day. It warmed her heart that they both cared so much about their future sibling.

"Ah well, we'll figure it out later," Luca said flippantly, "we have a while before the baby gets here. And we'll be able to narrow it down after the gender reveal."

"Right… The gender reveal. It's not too late to not have a party!" GoGo said, trying to encourage a different outcome.

"We're totally having a party," Luca assured.

"That's what I was afraid of. Have a good day at school, kiddos!" Leiko couldn't exactly say how proud she was of those two. But they had her entire heart.

Most of Luca's table was incredibly supportive about his new explorative look. Most of his table revered him as the king of middle school. Most of his table wasn't Zayne Owens.

"It's kind of girly, man," Zayne said critically as the rest of the table set to talking about a new urban legend about a guy with wings stalking the city.

"That's not really an insult," Luca pointed out, "one of my favorite people in the entire world is a girl, after all."

"Reese doesn't count," Zayne said, brushing the comment off.

"Excuse me? What?" Luca asked in surprise.

"I mean Reese is butch. She's probably a lesbian-"

"To the extent of my knowledge, Reese is not a lesbian. Not that it's any of your business, or any of mine to out her if I knew she was one. This isn't really an appropriate conversation. And it's not really appropriate to say that my sister doesn't count as a girl because she dresses in a way that you don't consider traditionally feminine and might not share the same sexual orientation as you." Luca didn't shy away from defending his sister. Ever.

"Dang, Luca, I didn't mean it like that-"

"It doesn't really matter what you meant, Zayne. You're allowed to think whatever you want about me and my sister but try to have some tact when voicing your opinion. There are THINK posters around the school for a reason. If it's not true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, or kind I don't really want it to be spread around my table or, tonight, in front of my parents."

"Dang, Luca…"

"You're still my friend, Zayne. As I said, I can't stop you from thinking certain things and I'd never want to stop you from being who you are but if the things you say are hurting someone that I care about I'm going to ask you to keep them to yourself."

"O-okay."

"I'm really looking forward to you meeting my mom and dad tonight."

"Yeah…" Zayne was a little surprised that he was still invited.

"Scout will be there, hope you don't mind. He's kind of become part of the family lately."

"Oh, okay."

"You can just ride the trolley with us after school, we'll head straight there. I'm hyped to show you my new room. You know I've been doing a bunch of different art pieces for the walls, really makes it pop. Your expertise would be a big help." Zayne had settled comfortably back into the conversation now that his head wasn't getting bitten off.

"I'd be happy to help."

"You can tell me what colors you think would be good for an abstract piece when you see what me and Scout have already done. Scout's got more of a cool cartoon style, and I like to draw landscapes, so we have some of those separately, and some of those combined. But your art is amazing, dude, and I'd be so excited to see what you could do with a challenge, I'm so excited to work with you on something." Zayne didn't mean to, but he was blushing from the compliments, more excited about this afternoon than he'd expected to be.

Because there was going to be a strange boy in her house, and because she was understandably achy and tired from pregnancy, GoGo took a half-day and did some of her work from home, there to meet the twins, Scout, and Zayne when they got back from school that afternoon.

"Hey, mom this is Zayne Owens! Zayne, this is my mom!" Zayne stared at her for a second, his eyes boggling.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," he managed weakly after a minute.

"We're going upstairs to maybe do some art stuff! Reese, you're welcome to join us."

Reese snorted, "As if. I'll be outside." Reese headed out to shoot some baskets and Luca and his posse ran upstairs.

"Dude," Luca said when they were in the privacy of his room, "why were you staring at my mom?"

"I didn't know she was pregnant! And I didn't know she was like, white!"

"She's Korean," Luca said with a shrug, "and yeah, Reese and I are about to have another little brother or sister. In a few weeks, we get to find out the gender and I'm super excited because we get to name them and it's gonna be so much easier if we know the gender. But we already have a gender-neutral middle name picked out, it's gonna be Elliot. Mom and dad like it."

"Luca, I THINK that this is necessary and definitely true," Zayne said, goofing a little bit, "but you talk a lot." Luca laughed.

"Yeah, I know. What do you think of the room so far?" Zayne spun around in a circle, looking at the carefully painted cityscapes, lots of neat, identical buildings, one closely in the style of City Rising. Some of the street shots included cutesy comic characters drawn over it, chibi dragons, not-so-monstrous monsters, etc.

"Cool…" Zayne said, staring at one of Luca's paintings with particular admiration, "Ms. Denver definitely didn't teach you that."

"Eh, I use a lot of reference photos. I'll take a picture and then try to draw or paint it later."

"Everyone uses reference photos," Scout said with a shrug, "you don't just wake up one-morning drawing chibi dragons. Well, Zayne might not use reference photos for abstract…"

"Just reference feelings…" Zayne said with a shrug.

"Can I… Can I make you something?" Zayne asked, "Like, for your room?"

"I'd love that!"

"I'd need to do it here, and I need to borrow paint… Mine got taken away."

"Oh, I'm sorry man, that sucks. Why'd it get taken away?"

"Before we moved here," Zayne mumbled, "I uh… I did some graffiti… Not much! Nothing really horrible. But my dad freaking snapped at me, you know? So now I just have to do pen and pencil stuff. He'd be livid if he knew I was painting again outside of art class but I think it would be different if I had a real canvas…"

"For sure! You're a talented artist. I'm happy to provide whatever you need for a project. For as many projects as you want or need to make. You can paint here any time, as long as I'm around to watch and collaborate."

"Thanks, man. I bet it'll feel good to create again."

"We can start now if you'd like."

"I'd like to, but I'm not ready to start painting right now. If you have some spare sketch paper I'd be happy to start laying out a possible design… A lot of what I do is random but I like to have a bit of a road map to work off of…"

"Sure. It could be fun to just draw together." Luca distributed a couple of sheets of sketch paper to each of them, "We'd have more room to draw if we went downstairs and sat at the counter." Scout gathered pencils into his arms, ready to make the move.

"That won't be awkward?" Zayne asked.

"Why would it be awkward?" Luca wondered.

"You know, hanging out around your mom? Wouldn't that be weird?"

"No… I like spending time with my mom. Do you not spend time with your mom?"

"My mom's not really in the picture. She kinda… Left. My dad and I don't exactly hang out."

"I'm sorry, Zayne, I didn't know."

"No one knows. It's fine. It's whatever."

"You remind me of JD," Luca said thoughtfully.

"Jay, what? What are you talking about?"

"There's this kid in this musical-"

"Ugh, musicals," Zayne muttered.

"This really crazy musical Heathers. Not that I'm trying to undermine your experiences, you just remind me of this guy in the musical. Not completely though because he went crazy and ended up killing people…" Zayne laughed out loud.

"You think I'm gonna kill people, Luca?"

"No! Of course not! Because you have an outlet. You have art."

"Not if my dad had any say in the matter."

"Well… He doesn't. You obviously shouldn't be vandalizing property but you also shouldn't be kept from creating. Like I've been saying, you have real talent. No one should stop you from expressing that."

"Thanks, Luca." They left his room, looking over the open living room and kitchen before heading down there. Luca briefly explained what was going on to his mother, who promised not to intrude. After a while Reese came in and began to work on her homework alongside the artists, the four of them continually discussing baby names and rejecting the names Serenity, Maria, Garfield, and Kurt. A little while later Wasabi came home with dinner, take-out from one of their favorite hole-in-the-wall Asian places, and they all settled in to eat.

"So, Zayne, it's pretty clear from the drawings on the counter that you're an artist. Is there anything else we should know about you?" Wasabi asked.

Zayne shifted a little in the spotlight, chewing and swallowing the bite he'd been taking and struggling to think up the right words to say. The things he'd just confided in Scout and Luca certainly weren't it. He didn't want to open up about his broken family, having no way of knowing that Luca's parents came from broken families of their own.

"Oh, well, uh… I moved here from Nevada, Vegas to be specific… Um… That's it. I'm not really that interesting."

"Do you play any sports or instruments?"

"My dad plays the piano. He used to work for a hotel as an entertainer but he had to leave, 'cause of reasons, so he does plumbing now. But no. I never learned how to play any instruments. I've played tennis, but not competitively. I'm rubbish at it anyway."

"That's interesting," Wasabi encouraged, trying to make the boy feel at home. Luca's little lecture about THINKing before you talked greatly influenced how nice of a boy the Tomagos saw him as. The hospitality was new and strange to Zayne and he really didn't want to mess it up.

"Thanks. Uh… What should I know about you guys?"

"Oh, uh, I'll start," Wasabi offered, "I'm a professor at SFIT. I teach Applied Physics and a few other classes."

"That's cool," Zayne said with a nod, then he looked towards GoGo, not staring this time.

"I'm an engineer at Krei Tech," GoGo said with a shrug.

"Oh, wow! That's like, a big deal to work for Krei Tech. Allistair Krei is a big deal."

"He's a bit of an egotist but yeah, I guess it is a big deal. It's a good job, I'm happy to have it and happier to have flexible hours, with the baby coming and everything. Do you have any siblings, Zayne?"

"None that I know of," Zayne said with a shrug, giving them just enough of a glimpse into his home life.

"Same," GoGo said, which was kind of comforting to him.

"Thanks for having me over," Zayne said quietly, "this is nice."

"We're happy to have you. We always like to meet Luca's friends. You're welcome whenever."

"Thank you so much. I'll be sure to take you up on that."


	26. Reveals

**Khary Arc**

**Khary Arc**

**Khary Arc**

**Also, go read Heroes of Flowers because TheSparklyKitten is trying to get just 11 more reviews by chapter twenty, which really isn't a lot. It's so good and it's definitely worth the investment. Updates every Saturday, which is more consistency than you'll ever get from me. Also, better character descriptions than you'll ever get from me, haha.**

* * *

The gender reveal was strictly for family so that it didn't get overrun with middle-schoolers who ran in Luca's circle. Of course, family was a broad term. There were the expected guests, Damon and Crystal with Beckett and Wyatt as well as a slightly uncomfortable Khary, but the list stretched much longer than just biological family. Fred and Honey Lemon with her own cute bump were some of the first to arrive. Hiro and Karmi, proudly toting adorable little Kaida who was almost five months old now weren't far behind. Last but not least, Scout came with Aunt Cass. It wasn't a lot of people, but it was enough, and everyone was so happy to be there to find out the gender of the newest Tomago baby. Many of the same people had been together years earlier when GoGo and Wasabi tearfully discovered that they were going to be having a little girl and a little boy.

"Mabel," Reese said as she stood at the edge of the party with her brother.

"Mabel? Like from Gravity Falls?"

"Yeah."

"Why are we talking about this now?" Luca said with a laugh, more eager to mingle with the guests than Reese was, even though everyone here was family.

"Because this is our last chance to have a brother or a sister. In a few minutes, it will be one or the other. So I just wanted to throw out some last-minute ideas."

"I like Mabel. Mabel Elliot. It's pretty."

"Thanks."

"I like Griffin, too. Do you like Griffin?"

"It is a cool people name," Reese said with a shrug, "though I'm not completely sold."

"That's okay. After today we have 19 weeks, give or take, to think of a name for baby."

"Right. This is kind of exciting," Reese admitted.

"This is super exciting!" Luca loved babies. He loved everyone, but he was so, so, so excited to have a new little brother or sister.

"Okay, guys! Is everyone ready?" GoGo called over the crowd, standing a few steps up on their small deck, higher than the others. At 21 weeks she was showing a good bit more than Honey Lemon, but it was different for everyone. Honey Lemon and Fred had taken her advice and recently told their families about the baby, which was good since it was becoming a harder secret to keep. They'd been met with overwhelming support and would be able to find out the gender of their own child in less than a week, but now they gathered with the others to find out the gender of number three.

"Okay," Wasabi said, unable to contain his excitement, "When we pop this balloon, there will be colored confetti. Either green, for a boy, or purple for a girl! Is everyone ready?" Cheers erupted from the small crowd, with Reese and Luca cheering from the front. GoGo grinned as she held the little pin, Wasabi grinned as he held her, and they set to discovering the truth.

**POP**

Green confetti rained down and everyone let out a massive cheer.

"It's a boy!" GoGo said in an overjoyed surprise.

"We're having a boy!" Wasabi was trying his hardest not to cry happy tears. He was honestly just so happy that their family was expanding, he and the others would have been happy no matter what. But this new revelation made it feel so much more concrete and real. Like he could actually picture the future with his new son.

Reese handed Luca five dollars, "You called it."

"Sorry that you're not getting a sister."

"That's okay, I have a turtle. And I don't need a sister as long as I have you."

"You're totally a softie," Luca teased.

"Am not," Reese argued. They weren't the only ones arguing, though their argument was certainly more light-hearted than the one going on a few feet away between Khary and Scout.

"Please, sir… I just want to know if you know anything about my brother! Maybe you've seen him! It's been months and I'm so worried about him!" Scout pleaded, close to tears.

"Listen!" Khary snapped, "If Andrew hasn't made contact with you then he probably doesn't want to. Your brother doesn't care. Leave him alone. Leave me alone!"

"I know you know something!" Scout said, now hurt and angry.

"You don't know me, kid! You don't know what I know. You don't want to." Then Khary muttered congratulations to his brother and sister-in-law and stormed out of the backyard, seemingly not noticing Scout trailing behind.

But Reese and Luca noticed, and, without saying a word to their parents, ran to catch up with Scout, afraid of what he would do since he'd seemed so upset as he'd left.

"Your uncle knows something about Andrew!" Scout insisted, eyes wild and hands shaking in clenched up fists.

"We believe you, Scout," Luca said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder, "but what is there to do about it?"

"We have to follow him."

"If you're sure, Scout… Then we'll help you," Reese said, deciding before Luca could protest. Fortunately, Luca agreed with her.

"Whatever it takes. Let's go." They followed their Uncle from a distance, slowly making their way to Good Luck Alley.

"Where's Reese and Luca? Where's Scout?" Wasabi noticed, looking around the party frantically. The confetti had barely settled when the panic started.

"They probably just went inside, Wasabi. I'll go check." GoGo ducked inside and came back a minute later, shaking her head, worry etched over her face, the joy of just minutes earlier now dampened by concern.

"They're not inside… Hey, has anyone seen the twins?" GoGo called out to their guests. Damon pushed to the forefront of the party with an observation of his own.

"Khary's not here either, maybe they're with him?" Wasabi cursed under his breath. He'd tried to ignore it, but he'd noticed Scout and Khary arguing.

"We need to get to Good Luck Alley… Party's over, I'm sorry everyone. Thank you all for coming. I have to find my kids. GoGo, you should stay here, in case they come back."

"I'm not staying here," GoGo snapped, "these are my kids too!"

"I understand that, but we have another kid to worry about, darling. I need you to sit tight for now. I will call you if I need backup, okay?"

"Okay. You better call."

"I'll go with you," Damon offered. Fred and Hiro also offered their support, leaving the women and children behind. GoGo was anxious and frustrated. She didn't like sitting idly while her babies could be in danger.

"They'll be okay," Honey Lemon tried to soothe, but it wasn't helping much.

"Just be ready to be back up," GoGo muttered.

Wasabi and the others didn't go completely unarmed, either. Damon, per usual, had a concealed carry. The others had something better. They had armor, unlockable at the ready. It had been years since Big Hero 6 had assembled, but if that's what it took to make sure that Reese, Luca, and Scout were safe, then they would don their suits once more.

"I'm sure they're fine," Fred said, trying to sound encouraging. He was worried about his niece and nephew as well. He'd been worried about a lot of things lately.

"Right," Wasabi agreed, not really buying it, "they're smart kids. They have good heads on their shoulders. I'm sure they'll be safe."

"Of course," Hiro agreed, "it'll be okay." Wasabi broke at that.

"I failed them," he whispered, "I failed them again." Damon put a hand on his shoulder.

"No no no, bro, it's okay. You didn't fail them. It's not your fault. Parenting is hard. Do you think Beckett hasn't run away and gotten hurt before? Do you think he hasn't yelled at me that I'm not his dad? That doesn't mean I failed as a parent, and you didn't fail because of this. Things happen, Wesley. Sometimes things fall apart. But you didn't fail. This isn't on you. You're doing a good job with them. And we will find them."

Reese, Luca, and Scout were holding on to each other as they walked through the dangerous part of San Fransokyo. None of them were prepared for this, so clinging to each other was the only way they could feel secure.

They didn't walk that far behind Khary now, but he either didn't see them or was pretending he didn't for their sake. At one point he stopped at an alley near the theatre and they stopped too, huddled together and quiet, listening for the smoking gun, reluctantly ready to convict their uncle, who was apparently not what he seems.

"Are you ready, Ginger?" A voice asked from the dark. Scout's eyes widened and he broke away from the others.

"That's Andrew!" He said in a loud whisper.

"Shh!" Luca said, trying to pull Scout back, but it was too late.

"Who's there?" The voice said as a greasy-haired blond stepped from the shadows. Though Scout was more cleaned up and presentable, the resemblance was clear. Similar to the resemblance between Khary and his niece and nephew.

"Andrew!" Scout said, stepping forward. The blond grimaced, his dark eyes narrowing.

"You weren't supposed to find me."

"An-Andrew… Why did you disappear?" Scout said, close to a breakdown, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Escape, little brother. Escape. And justice. You wouldn't understand. You're of no use to me." Without warning, Andrew's left hand raised, holding a thick and heavy remote, which he cracked across Scout's skull. Luca lurched forward as Scout fell.

"Hey! You can't do that! You can't hurt him like that!"

"One of yours, Ginger?" Andrew asked, looking between them as Reese tried to pull Luca away, tried to run while they still could, while Scout lay on the concrete, bleeding from his head.

"Don't hurt them, Andrew," Khary begged, "they're my niece and nephew, they have nothing to do with this."

"They would have nothing to do with this if they hadn't already seen too much. I'm not paying you to stand around and look pretty, Ginger. Make yourself useful." Andrew clicked one of the buttons on the remote and there was a ringing bell sound. Every time a bell rings, an Angel gets their wings. Luca hadn't believed that there was anything more horrifying than seeing his friend laid out bleeding on the concrete but he'd been wrong. He couldn't help but stare, mouth agape, while Uncle Khary changed before their very eyes. His hands became like claws, and wings forced their way through his shirt. His eyes turned a wild yellow and he looked through them instead of at them. Luca screamed, frozen in place.

"Luca," Reese said urgently, "Run!"

"I… I can't leave Scout! I'll fight!" Tears stung at his eyes. He was petrified. He couldn't fight.

Andrew scoffed, "There's no running. There's no fighting. Let's get down to business, Ginger!" Another ringing bell. Uncle Khary's monstrous form lunged at them, ripping into their skin as he lifted them from the ground by their arms and flew off with the two screaming, struggling teens. Luca sobbed and thrashed.

"Let us go!" And then, angrily towards an ever-shrinking Andrew, "Let him go!" Reese, meanwhile, had succumbed to a dark truth. This was not going to end well.

Wasabi heard the screams before he saw anything. He didn't know where the twins were but he saw blood on the pavement. His heart nearly stopped as he ran up to Scout. The perpetrator hadn't had time to run when Wasabi found him, furiously pushing him up against the wall.

"Where are my children?!" He roared, about to beat the living daylights out of the man.

"You might want to ask your brother that," Andrew said with a taunting smirk, "Good luck getting a response out of him, though." He waved the remote cockily.

"What did you do to my brother? What did you do to my children?" Wasabi wrestled the remote away from Andrew, a sinking feeling in his gut.

While he interrogated Andrew, Fred and Damon knelt next to Scout, trying to lessen the blood flow while Hiro called 911.

"Damon, you need to stay with Scout while we go after the twins," Fred instructed, his nerves replaced by adrenaline. Things were going down. Soon the paramedics were on their way, as were the police, and Wasabi had gotten all he could out of Andrew, leaving a fair share of bruises. Everything was happening at once. Sky-Max was on its way to deliver their suits, GoGo and Honey Lemon were on their way as well, and Wasabi was briefing the boys on his theory.

"I think this is another city of monsters. Scout's parents were arrested years ago for trying to restart Di Amara's destructive experiments. I think this remote is controlling Khary. I think… I think that Khary isn't himself right now, and I think he has the twins."

"Wasabi, I'm so sorry," Hiro said, full of sympathy.

"No time for sorry, Hiro. I need you to see if you can reverse this remote, and maybe if you could use it to track him. We need to contain the problem, we need to change Khary back if the worst comes to worst. But if you can't hack this, then we're going to need Karmi. She was the first person to be able to turn someone back from a monster."

Hiro nodded, "Backup is on its way."

"Good. Let's go save our kids."

Big Hero 6 suited up for the first time in forever, laying aside who they were now, laying aside all doubts and fears and logical reasons why they should let someone else handle this. One child had already been seriously injured. Wasabi's baby brother had been turned into a monster, and his kids were in danger. This was a catastrophe and they were going to fight back. They were going to make things right, no matter what. No matter what it took.

It wasn't the easiest thing to don armor at 21-weeks, with your back aching and your unborn son kicking at the sudden change of pace. But GoGo was quick to follow Wasabi and the others when they found out how critical things had gotten. GoGo was frantic, unable to be calmed down as she rushed to rescue her children, dragging Honey Lemon along with her.

Within a few minutes, the girls met up with the boys. Karmi was still on standby, still taking care of Kaida but willing to leave her with Aunt Cass if it became necessary. Everyone was considerably nervous.

"Is Scout going to be okay?" GoGo asked as they walked towards Khary's apartment, where Hiro had tracked him to. She had her fingers intertwined with Wasabi's and was squeezing his hand nervously, both of them having a hard time staying positive.

"I don't know…" Wasabi admitted, looking down at his feet, "It was bad. Andrew could be in jail for a long time based on that attack alone. I'm… I'm scared to find out what happened to the twins." GoGo squeezed his hand again.

"We just have to trust that things will be okay. That they'll be okay. Our kids are tough." Wasabi tried not to break down again. GoGo was doing the same. A little bit back, Fred and Honey Lemon walked together, both nervous for their niece and nephew and Khary. Both nervous for the two unborn babies who had no way of knowing what was going on. Just a little further back, Hiro and Baymax walked together, Hiro trying to figure out the remote. Many onlookers stopped and stared, trying to figure out why Big Hero 6 had come out of retirement. What was the significance? Was the city in danger, or was the threat much more localized?

Reese and Luca were clinging to each other, bound in Khary's apartment, stuck together, though there was no chance they would have pulled apart on their own. Luca was drowning in tears, sobbing as their Uncle paced and snarled. He wasn't sobbing for himself, though his arms were scratched and bruised. He couldn't get the images of his friend bleeding on the ground out of his head. He was worried about Scout, he was worried about Uncle Khary, he was worried most of all about Reese. Though he was hurt and traumatized he cared more about the others, and his stomach ached from the sobbing. Reese, meanwhile, was quiet, processing. She too was sick from horror, she too was scratched and bruised, but she was quiet. She didn't understand what was going on but she knew it would be so much scarier if Luca wasn't there. She wished she could offer him some kind of comfort but she had no trust in reality, really didn't see any hope in the depths of the dark apartment.

Then, there was a pounding knock at the door.

"Khary? Luca? Reese?" Their dad's voice called out over pain and panic.

"Dad! Dad!" Reese screamed, straining against the bonds, Luca was unable to answer, his voice drowned out by his sobs.

"Hold on! I'm coming!" Wasabi turned on his plasma sword, cutting the door down swiftly and barging in. Khary roared at his brother, internally struggling against the monstrosity he had become. Usually, Andrew would have resuscitated the real Khary by now. Instead, the demon he had become persisted, wings beating in anger as he stared down at the face of an enemy who should have been family.

"Khary! This has to stop!" Wasabi roared. GoGo rushed over to her children and gently began to free them, gathering her babies into her arms and letting them cry against her.

"It's okay, sweetheart… It's okay, mama's got you… It's okay…" GoGo said, crying too as she tried desperately to comfort them.

"Is Scout okay?" Luca blubbered, crying against his mother.

"He will be," GoGo promised, though she didn't know if that was the truth. Luca just cried harder, perhaps detecting the hesitance in her voice.

"I'm so sorry, Reese, Luca… I'm so sorry I let this happen to you…" GoGo murmured as she clung to them. Baymax joined the three, scanning Reese and Luca and doing his best to treat the scratches.

"Khary, listen to me!" Wasabi shouted as he wrestled with his brother, reminded of the times they'd dueled with lightsabers when they were younger, wishing it could be that simple again. Khary roared in response, the part that could listen unable to respond, the part that was in charge only able to see red.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, Khary. I'm so sorry that I couldn't help you through this. I'm sorry that it came to this. I need you to come back so that I can understand, Khary. I just want to understand. I love you, Khary. Please, listen to me." Wasabi threw a shield up before Khary could slash through his skin, not as successful the first time Khary had pulled that stunt but able to block now.

"Wasabi, I think I can trap him if you get out of the way!" Honey Lemon called, her fingers already remembering the combination as if it had been just yesterday, not years since she'd been called on making a chem-ball. Wasabi gave her a silent nod and kicked Khary away from him, wincing at the winged beast's pained roars.

"I'm so sorry, Khary," Wasabi whispered as Honey Lemon trapped Khary to the ground. The monster howled in anguish now, trying miserably to slash at one of its captors. Wasabi stepped away from him, continuing to mutter apologies.

"Hiro?" Wasabi snapped, nervous and heartbroken as he watched his baby brother suffer and heard his children and wife cry. Everyone he cared about was hurting now and he felt like he had failed.

"I'm working on it, Wasabi, but I don't think this remote is going to do any good…"

"Then you need to call Karmi! We have to fix my brother! Before it's too late!" Wasabi was shouting and desperate, tears streaming down his face.

"M-mom?" Reese said, looking up, trying to stop crying.

"Yes?"

"W-what are you wearing?" GoGo glanced down at her superhero getup and let out a pained laugh.

"Your dad and I will explain everything in a bit, darling… But right now we have to make sure your uncle is going to be okay."

"I'm sorry we followed Uncle Khary," Reese said quietly, "I'd understand if we were grounded until high school."

"I don't know if we're going to punish you, baby… But right now we're not concerned about that. I'm just glad that you're okay." These were just surface scratches, mainly. Bruises and scratches that would heal over time. Maybe some of the scratches would scar. The scars on their brains would be worse. Reese had just started seeing someone, now, probably, a trauma counselor would be required for both of them. Luca hadn't stopped crying. Luca hadn't said anything after asking about Scout. He felt sick and if there had been much in his stomach he would have emptied it. The cake that they had bought for the celebration would go wasted, as no one was in a celebrating mood. The joy they'd had only hours earlier was wasted as well.

"It'll be okay," GoGo soothed as they stood. Fred and Wasabi held onto a currently incapacitated Khary who continued to scream in protest. The real Khary, inwardly, was grateful as they brought him to get help, throwing him into the back of the car. Everyone else took the trolley, except for Fred, Wasabi, and Khary.

Hiro had called ahead and soon they were all at the clinic. Karmi threw her arms around her husband before setting to work. The remaining staff tended to Luca and Reese, who GoGo continued to hold onto. Wasabi paced the whole time, wincing at every scream, wondering if his brother could be saved. Wondering if his family could be saved. He didn't allow himself to feel secure in the fact that his babies were okay, that GoGo hadn't been hurt, that none of his friends had been hurt. Someone offered to look at a slash Khary had put in his cheek but Wasabi wasn't receptive to treatment. They gave everyone a scan out of caution, but Wasabi clearly wasn't calm enough for anything more. Finally, when the twins had drifted off into an uneasy sleep, GoGo came over to smack some sense into her husband.

"Wasabi, your cut can't go untreated."

"I'm fine," he snapped. He was not fine.

"Wesley Tomago!" GoGo snapped in return, "Our kids nearly died today! We all nearly died today! This obviously sucks! I'm freaking out too, Wes. I feel sick thinking of what could have happened and I feel sick thinking about poor Khary. You're not alone in your wallowing. But what kind of example are you setting for our children if you refuse to let someone help you? Just let someone treat the cut."

Wasabi nodded tiredly, sinking onto a bed next to GoGo and accepting the help.

"I failed them," he whispered.

"We didn't fail anyone," Gogo replied, rubbing patterns into his back. They held onto each other, both too tired to cry anymore.

"I should have been watching them. I should have been there for Khary. If I hadn't kicked him out…"

"No, Wasabi. Khary made his own decisions. He might have been manipulated, we don't know the full story yet, but you didn't do that. That isn't your fault."

"Besides," she said, "Khary is going to be okay." Wasabi sighed and nodded, resting his head on her shoulder.

"We're going to have a boy," he whispered, remembering.

GoGo smiled, "we're having a boy."

"That's one good thing to hold onto," he said.

"Yep." It had been quiet for a while. Maybe Khary had been sedated. Maybe Khary was cured. No updates yet.

"I need to call Damon. He deserves to be updated on Khary and I'd like to know what's going on with Scout." GoGo nodded.

"I'm going to go check on them," GoGo said, creeping over to her sleeping children.

Wasabi sighed as he dialed the number, wishing he had better news for his brother, hoping his brother had good news for him.

"Wesley!" Damon said, loud enough to startle a very weary Wasabi.

"Are the twins okay?"

"Yeah, just some scratches and bruising, though the psychological damage is going to be worse. Damon… H-he turned Khary into a monster! Some winged demon, Damon! I had to fight against my own brother, had to see Khary in agony. It was sickening. Right now Karmi is doing her best to treat him but I don't know if he's human right now."

Wasabi could hear Damon's voice shake over the phone, "Th-that's horrible!"

"We just have to hope for the best. How's Scout?"

"Not doing so great. There was obviously some head trauma. The kid has stitches in his head and a pretty bad concussion. I remember hearing from Thanksgiving that he played football? That's not super likely for the rest of the semester, possibly longer. He's resting right now, I'll update you if anything changes."

"Thanks, Damon. I'll do the same." Wasabi closed the call and returned to pacing until a door opened and Karmi slipped out.

"He's sedated right now, and human. I think we're going to keep him here for a few days, run some tests, make sure that there's no chance of a relapse, make sure that he's entirely there. I imagine the next few days are going to be very difficult for your brother, Wasabi. I imagine that they'll be quite difficult for your whole family. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Karmi. Thank you so much for your help. I'm sorry for taking up your time."

"No, no, I'm happy to help. One of the bots will monitor Khary for the rest of the night. I think it's time for everyone to go home." Wasabi nodded, hesitating only a little before going over to GoGo. One at a time he carried his twins to the car, not as strong as he had once been. He and GoGo were silent on the drive home, too tired to talk. They didn't talk about it, but they both knew that they would be sharing their bed that night. They didn't talk about it, but they would deal with the green confetti and uneaten cake tomorrow.

A few times in the night, Luca woke up crying, and Reese couldn't stop shivering in her nightmares. Wasabi just held his family closer and tried to banish the heartache. They would deal with the pain tomorrow.

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**It actually made me emotional to write the kids getting hurt. I felt so bad, especially, when Scout was being assaulted.**

**Now... For the aftermath.**


	27. Visiting Hours

**I'm so sorry for my absence! I've been having a blast writing a lot of other things, but this story fell by the wayside.**

**However, I can promise that I'm super happy with how this chapter turned out. It only made me love my precious OCs all the more. Hopefully, you'll agree that it was worth the wait.**

**Also, if you jump over to Brainyxbat's page, you'll find a delightful new story that we've been collaborating on called Wingmen. It's kind of super long because we've been writing it since January. The first chapter is up now, with more coming soon, hopefully.**

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"Cake for breakfast!" Wasabi announced with forced cheerfulness. Luca groaned and put his head on the counter.

"Why are we up so early?" Luca was always the first one up on the weekends, bright and excited and ready to tackle the day. Now, Sunday morning, he refused to lift his head off the counter.

"It's not early, it's 9. We're going to visit Khary and Scout." Luca sat up now, nodding.

"Good. I want to see them. I need to know they're going to be okay." A lump formed in Wasabi's throat. He'd never been in this position before, where he couldn't promise his children that everything would be okay. Even with all the changes that had been thrown on them this past year, he'd always been able to comfort them, always been sure that things would get better. He wasn't sure, though. He didn't know if Scout's head injuries would have long term consequences, and he certainly didn't know what would happen to the boy, though he and GoGo had discussed it before the twins were up. He didn't know if Khary would be okay, if the monster was gone, or if the trauma from the transformation could ever be healed. He didn't know anything right now.

"I don't want to see Uncle Scary," Reese muttered.

"Don't call him that," Luca snapped, surprising all of them, "it wasn't his fault, Reese. You don't have to forgive him right now but he's not the real monster. Andrew is."

"Just don't make me talk to him," Reese muttered. Wasabi's heart broke. His daughter was hurting, was… He thought about how he'd described himself, tearfully to Leiko during his darkest times. He'd called himself shattered. He looked at the people he loved now and he feared the same for them.

"You don't have to, sweetheart," Wasabi promised. Khary would understand.

"Thanks, dad." She shoved cake into her mouth. Luca didn't eat. No one made him, though GoGo would make sure that he ate something today. There was a silent strain on all of them.

After most of them had eaten they got ready and piled into the car. Luca sat in the middle as if Scout was with them. He rested his head against his sister's shoulder and she laid her head on his. GoGo kept glancing back at them, feeling secure in the knowledge that her kids were there and were safe. She put a hand on Wasabi's shoulder, trying to comfort him. She knew he was super insecure about the future, but she really wanted to assure him that the unsure would be okay. It was terrifying to be faced with so many unknowns, but it was helpful to remind him that they would go into the unknown together. When they pulled up to the clinic GoGo gave him a kiss on the cheek trying to soothe him. Then she wrapped her arms around her twins to offer them the same comfort. Reese and Luca leaned against her as they walked inside, but before they got to the room Reese burst into tears, pulling away.

"I can't see him," she wept, "I'm not ready…" This was the first time that Reese had cried about the incident. Wasabi and GoGo quickly pulled Reese into a hug, comforting their little girl.

"It's okay, Reese, you don't have to. Let's just sit out here for a bit…" They led her to a bench and sat down, Reese crying into her father's chest, GoGo rubbing her back. Luca was left standing, and glanced at the door to Khary's room.

"Can I go see him?" Despite the pain and trauma and the nightmares, Luca loved his uncle and readily forgave him. Wasabi nodded, knowing that Khary was being monitored and that nothing would happen to his little boy. It might do Khary some good to talk to Luca alone, Luca always brought out the best in people.

So Luca slipped into the room, quiet in case Khary was sleeping. But Khary hadn't slept since the sedative wore off. He seemed exhausted but he was wide awake. He sat up when Luca came in, patting the bed beside him, unable to speak for a moment, so heartbroken and remorseful.

"Uncle Khary? I know it wasn't your fault." Luca sat on the bed and Khary carefully wrapped his arms around his nephew. Luca really was like a smaller version of himself, they even had matching bruises littering their bodies. Khary blinked back tears as he looked at how he had injured one of his favorite people in the entire world.

"Luca… I'm so sorry. I'm not as innocent as you want me to be. I let Andrew experiment on me, I volunteered in exchange for a place to live and a little bit of spending money."

"B-but, you can always stay with us…" Luca pointed out, curling further into Khary's arms. He cared about his uncle the way he cared about his friends, always wanting to shelter the people he cared about, and he cared about a lot of people.

Khary laughed sadly, holding on tighter to his nephew, "I know you think that, buddy. But I need a bit more space than that. Not away from you, of course! But I'm not an extrovert like you, kiddo. Sometimes I just need time and space to think. Besides, I don't think that my brother will ever forgive me for what happened."

"What? No! He already forgives you! I don't think he, they… I don't think that they blame you at all!" Luca insisted.

"Easy, easy, buddy," Khary noted that tears had sprung to Luca's eyes, "I'm sure you're right. You're good at that kind of thing. Your emotional intelligence is off the charts." Luca continued to sniffle and Khary scrambled to think of something to comfort him.

"You'd be a perfect Travis."

"What?"

"I'm doing a production of A Raisin in The Sun over the summer. You'd be perfect in the role of Travis. Would that be fun for you? You want to audition with me?" Luca seemed to brighten.

"That sounds really fun! We'd get to perform together?"

"Yeah. I think it would be fun as well. What do you say?"

"I'm in." Spirits lifted, Luca remembered what was going on outside.

"I should go check on Reese. She's shook up. I know you weren't in control, Uncle Khary, and Reese knows it too… I think she just needs some time and space like you do sometimes."

"I completely understand," Khary said with a sad smile, "If you think it would help, tell Reese that I'm sorry and that I love her." Luca nodded and ducked out.

While Luca and Khary had been comforting each other, Reese had been opening up to her parents.

"Uncle Khary almost killed Luca last night," Reese sobbed.

"I know baby," GoGo whispered, continuing to rub Reese's back.

"It was really scary," Wasabi agreed, his heart heavy, "but your mom and I will always be there to protect you two. I promise."

"Is that why you guys were wearing those weird costumes? To protect us?"

"Uh, yes." Wasabi and GoGo exchanged a look and decided to spill the secret.

"Reese, when your dad and I were in college, we had a short stint as superheroes. If you've ever heard the name Big Hero 6, that was us."

Reese's eyes boggled.

"That's crazy!"

"I know, that's what I thought too," Wasabi said with a laugh, "but someone needed to protect the city. We hung up the masks for a long time until someone needed to protect you two."

"Do you think Scout will be okay?"

"I hope so," Wasabi said, "we're going to do whatever we can to help him."

"He could stay in Luca's room, on the couch," Reese suggested.

"That's what we thought, and maybe we can make up a room for him in the basement," GoGo said.

"Scout would like that," Luca said, appearing in the doorway.

"Sweetie, we're going to go talk to Khary, is that okay? We could stay with you a little longer if you wanted."

"It's okay dad. Luca will stay with me."

Luca nodded and took their place.

"We should make Scout a get well card. I have paper and pens in the car."

"That's a good idea."

Reese told Luca what she had learned about their parents and Luca told her about the play he might be in, and they googled both together. They even found Aunt Karmi's fanfic.

On the other side of the door, Wasabi was relieved to see his brother instead of a beast, and both brothers were immediately reduced to tears. Wasabi wrapped his arms around his brother and held him tight and Khary cried all the harder.

"I'm so sorry, Khary, that I couldn't help you. That I let you get turned into a monster."

"It's not your fault, Wes, I became that monster willingly, I allowed Andrew to experiment on me for cash and a place to stay after my girlfriend cheated on me and changed the locks. It seemed like a good deal, I never thought anyone would get hurt. I never thought Luca and Reese could get hurt…"

"Luca and Reese will eventually be okay, Khary. Bruises and scrapes heal. I was worried that there was no saving you… Everything these past months makes sense now, it was all part of the monster."

"Wes, you can't blame the monster for me betraying your trust."

"You didn't! I can forgive you for how you treated the twins if they can, and Luca already has-"

"It's not that, Wesley! I did something terrible, and that was 100% me, not any monster." Wasabi's heart sank.

"Khary, buddy, what exactly did you do?" Khary turned away, crying harder.

"I'm so sorry, Wes, Leiko, I'm so sorry…"

"Khary just tell us!" Wasabi was frantic.

"I spent Thanksgiving with mom and dad. I told them everything about Reese and Luca… I told them you lived here now. I was just being petty and I went against your wishes." For a moment, Wasabi turned cold. But he shook that off quickly.

"Lately, Khary, you've had a lot of blunders. What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't help pick you up off the ground?"

"S-so you're not mad at me?"

"I'm hurt. You betrayed my trust and put unnecessary stress on my family. If she tries to interact with any of us I'm likely going to have to file a restraining order, which is something I never wanted to do to my own biological parent. But I forgive you for it because I know at heart you're a good person." Khary sobbed.

"No, I'm not, I'm a monster-"

"Shh, Khary, shhh. It's okay. It'll be okay. You're not a monster, you made some mistakes. Listen, I know better than anyone else how hard it is to forgive yourself. But hard is not impossible. So I'm going to forgive you, please, please try to do the same. You deserve forgiveness and love and compassion."

"Thank you. Please don't feel guilty for what happened, either. I know how you are. None of it was your fault, Wes. And you shouldn't blame yourself because you wanted me to stop staying with you, you shouldn't try to rectify it by offering me the couch again. This morning I set it up with my new boyfriend that I'd stay at his place at least until I could get my own. If that falls through, Damon said I could crash in the guest bedroom for a while. I don't want to put any more stress on you."

"You're not a burden, Khary."

"I know. But I'm not your responsibility, either. Thank you for watching out for me, but please don't take it personally when I slip up. I love you too much to see you beating yourself up for my mistakes. You got two beautiful children and another one on the way to worry about. You shouldn't have to protect me too."

"I'm never gonna stop trying, though," Wasabi promised.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that."

"We're going to go see Scout. His family is all in trouble with the law. He says he doesn't have anyone else, so it's up to us to be there for him."

"You're a good person, Wes."

"So are you."

"I'm working on it. Trying to be better."

"I believe in you. We'll visit soon, Khary."

"Thanks. See you soon."

A few minutes later they went to the hospital. The Morris-Ginger family had stayed in town a little longer because Damon had insisted on staying with the poor kid until he could be discharged. Damon and Wasabi switched places as soon as the Tomagos arrived, the former looking forward to returning to his family. Luca ran ahead, excited to see his best friend although he was obviously worried. He and Reese had made a cute little get well card, with a chibi robot drawn on the front. Reese and Luca had agreed on one thing that was in Scout's favor, he hadn't had to see Khary's transformation. Still, they didn't envy him at all, his brother's betrayal was nightmarish enough.

Scout must have realized it. The side of his head was bandaged, and he looked really tired and sad. He tried to brighten up when Luca walked in, but he couldn't force a smile for long.

"Hey, man. We're so, so, so sorry about everything that happened to you," Luca said, "I know it doesn't really help much, but we also made you a card. It was kinda last minute, sorry."

"Luca, you're rambling," Scout said with a small smile, taking the card and looking at the little robot. It was a little bit harder to read the print inside, his vision blurry ever since his brother's attack.

"Sorry."

"You're okay. And I'm okay too. I will be, at least. It's fine." Scout didn't sound like he was fine, as he squinted to read the card.

"Scout, we were talking," Wasabi started, "we think that you should come live with us. I'm sure that right now everything seems overwhelming and we don't want to add to that, by any means, but our home is open to you, and we want to do everything we can to help you through this difficult time."

"Thank you, sir. I don't want to impose-"

"No. I'm not gonna deal with another sweet as sugar guy who doesn't want to impose," GoGo interjected, "You're family, Scout. We want you to live with us. We care about you. You're not imposing, and even if you were, you've had a crap life. You deserve to impose. So, just, think about it, okay?"

"Okay."

"It would be cool! We'd be roommates for a bit until we set up a proper room for you." Luca was grinning. Scout was a little stressed out but he appreciated Luca's enthusiasm.

"I… I guess that I don't have anywhere else to go." Scout was doing his very best not to cry.

"You'll always have somewhere to go. You can always come to us." Reese usually stayed quiet around people who weren't family, but Scout had become family. Luca was his best friend and Mr. and Mrs. Tomago had always been really accepting, but Reese was always the one who made Scout feel the most welcomed simply because he knew how hard it was to get close to her.

"Thank you. I appreciate all of you… I'd be happy to be a part of your family." Luca cheered.

"I think they'll release you today, so you can come home with us then."

"Awesome," Scout said tiredly.

"We'll hang out with you until you're discharged, but if you need to rest we don't mind." They settled into a quiet peacefulness, waiting to take Scout home. The days before were hard and the days to come wouldn't be much easier, but their sense of family had not been wounded.


	28. Excused Absence

**So I suck at developing characters.**

**This chapter is hopefully one step in the right direction towards developing the secondary characters more.**

**Another step in the right direction is to go back and fill in the holes and errors of the past. So when I hit 30 chapters I'm gonna go back on an editing binge, and hopefully, it'll be better after that. I think that Luca and Reese and the rest of them have a good story to tell. I just want to tell that story in the best way I can. Which, hopefully, will include giving everyone who matters a physical description. Seriously I don't know why you read this haha, I'm so bad at descriptions.**

**Also thank you guys so much for pushing me over 50 reviews.**

**And also I told someone that there wouldn't be much angst in the next part but I forgot the big bit of angst in the next part so I lied. I'm sorry.**

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Unanimously it was decided that Reese, Luca, and Scout didn't have to go to school on Monday. They'd be back on the horse on Tuesday, but they needed a little break. Wasabi canceled the day's classes for his college students and in the morning took Scout and Luca to get Scout's eyes checked while Reese happily slept in.

They came back a little later with a new pair of glasses for Scout and Noodleburger for everyone. After the excitement of lunch and Scout's new owl-like frames (which Luca insisted made him look dashing), the three teens fell into a bit of a slump. It seemed to hit Luca the hardest, at least openly. Despite his closest friends being with him and Star Wars Episode IV on the tv, he was lonely and bored. He was used to interacting with dozens of people every day, taking a break only on weekends. He needed a social stimulus. If he was ever forced into self-isolation he would probably lose his mind. And not a single one of his friends texted to see if he was good. The king of middle school felt dethroned.

Reese was doing okay. Her biggest gripe was that her parents didn't want her playing basketball until her bruises and scrapes healed up a bit more. They'd already contacted her coach who was disappointed but understood. So Reese was a little sulky over that.

Scout had a lot to grapple with. His first night with the Tomagos wasn't that bad. Next week was spring break and they were going to begin the labor-intensive and heartbreaking job of moving his stuff out of his childhood home. Scout still couldn't swallow the fact that everything had changed in a matter of months. When his parents had been locked up, that had been hard. He'd felt pretty empty then, started lying a little more about himself. He didn't want anyone knowing he was that kid, that he was from a home as broken as they came, that he was one step away from prison bars himself. No one really knew him until Luca stepped into the school and made it his mission to care about the people who went overlooked. Even people who were on the football team, with loads of friends who only saw an empty shell of him. No one even knew he was an artist until Luca became his friend. No one but Andrew.

Andrew had been his other best friend. He had to be. He was all Scout had left when their parents messed up. He remembered how vehemently Andrew had cursed out their parents. Andrew was brilliant, he could've gone to SFIT for biochemistry but that had been snatched from him when their parents were locked up. His college fund went into raising his little brother, but Andrew never made it feel like Scout's fault. It was their fault. Andrew loved him. He wouldn't have thrown away his future for that, wouldn't have angrily disconnected from their parents like that if he hadn't loved his little brother.

"We're not gonna be like that, Scoutie," Andrew had promised.

"Of course not, Andy," Scout agreed.

"Promise me! Promise me that you're never going to end up like them."

"I promise!"

Andrew had been so insistent on Scout not going down the same path as their parents, had dismissed their experiments as nonsense and left that as the final word.

Apparently it hadn't been the final word. Apparently there had been at least a few more words, and now one more broken Burks was behind bars. His brother, his best friend, had discarded him, had assaulted him. Andrew didn't love him. Maybe Andrew had resented him more than he'd ever resented their parents. Maybe Andrew had never actually believed anything he said about not ending up like them because that's just what happened. And so Scout felt like he was one step away from being the last broken Burks behind bars.

"Hey, Scout, you okay?" Luca asked.

"I could ask you the same." This morning, before Luca had gotten up, he'd talked to Mr. "You can call me Wasabi, or Wesley, or Wes" Tomago privately. He'd asked if he could see Andrew. That apparently had been the wrong question.

"I don't know, Scout. You deserve the chance to see your brother, I know that. But, I don't think it would be good for you, right now, to see him. Not so soon after what happened. Over the break, okay? If you still want to see him, you can see him over the break." Scout had accepted that.

"I'm serious, Scout," Luca insisted, "you can talk to me about whatever."

"I don't want to, Luca. You're my best friend, but I'm not ready to talk. I hope that's okay."

"No, that's fine. Of course. Take all the time you need."

"It looks like something's on your mind, though," Scout acknowledged, "so if you want to talk, I don't think Han Solo would mind."

"I would mind," Reese said with an eye roll, "Go talk about your feelings upstairs."

"Okay. Let's go to our room," Luca said with a sigh. They headed upstairs.

"Spill, Luca," Scout said, dropping down on the couch and patting the spot next to him.

"It's stupid. After everything that happened, taking a day off of school should be good for me but I feel like crap. I miss our friends and no one texted or called to check on me. It's stupid but I spend so much time caring I thought one of them would care back."

"They care, Luca. They obviously care, I mean your closet is stuffed with leftovers from Valentine's day and that silly dog Nova gave you takes up half your bed-"

"-It's not silly. I like it."

"Yeah, well it proves it. Everyone cares about you. So, chin up. Let's head back downstairs before your sister makes it to episode five." Luca nodded and they were halfway down the stairs when the doorbell rang.

"Luca!" Reese gestured at the door, not getting up or pausing the movie.

"No, don't get up, I'll get it," Luca said with an eye roll.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Reese replied. Luca swung the door open and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You're alive!" Nova Pearson cheered, fussing with their beanie before pulling Luca into a hug, Luca's face flushed and he hugged back

"Yeah, I am alive, thanks for noticing…" Luca said with a stunned laugh as Nova and a dozen other people streamed into the living room.

"What's going on?" Wasabi asked, emerging from his room.

"Some friends came to visit! Dad this is Nova, you've met Zayne and Sara, that's Sadie Beth, Angela, Duncan, Charlotte, Zack with a K, Hunter 2, Hunter 1, Bekah, Finneas, and Parker."

"Nice to meet all of you. I've seen some of you around for headshots."

"We can't stay," Finneas said, "but we wanted to check on you guys."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"Of course, man," Zayne said, "we weren't gonna just forget about you. You're our friend. You're one of my best friends. You too, Scout. You too, Reese." Zayne nodded at Reese, who had been joined by Sara on the couch.

"You're interrupting the empire, Shane!" Reese called. Zayne laughed a little.

"She's gonna come around to me, right?" Zayne asked.

"There's no telling, Z," Luca said with a laugh.

"She knows my real name though, right?"

"I think so… Are you sure you all have to leave?" Most of them unfortunately did. Zayne and Nova hesitated.

"Dad, can Zayne and Nova stay for dinner?" Luca asked hopefully.

"Sure, sure, I suppose. What's our table without an extra plate or two? It's nice to meet you, Nova." Wasabi shook their hand and then went to make up a different dinner plan and warn his wife. Luca grinned, standing there as Scout joined the ladies on the couch, more interested in Star Wars then sentimentality.

"This guy's got the hookup on the art supplies," Zayne said with a grin.

"Is that why you came?" Luca laughed, "To raid my art supplies?"

"I'm just saying, I'm here, and I'm staying for dinner, so I might as well work on your piece."

"Knock yourself, out, man, you know where it is."

"Hey, Nova, you should let Luca draw you. He's great," Zayne said, as he headed up the stairs.

"So I've heard. Would you?" Luca studied them. Nova had chin-length wavy reddish-brown hair that was shaved on one side and occasionally covered their blue-green eyes.

"Yeah. You have a nice face, I'd be happy to draw you." Nova blushed and Wasabi, Reese, and Scout all had to pretend they weren't listening.

"Thanks again for coming, Nova. I really appreciate it. I was worried that none of you cared, to be honest."

"All of us care, Luca. You care about us, of course we care about you. I almost forgot, here." Nova pulled a wad of folded up papers out of their hoodie pocket. It was pages of signatures and notes wishing Luca and his siblings well. Luca nearly teared up.

"A lot has happened recently," Luca said quietly, "and this means a lot to me. I'm gonna hold onto this forever."

"Never say forever," Nova said with a laugh, "now, show me how great of an artist you are."

"It would be my pleasure," they headed upstairs, Luca glancing back at Nova, "Are you and Zayne…?"

"Oh, no, no, but I'm glad you welcomed him into our friend group, I think he's going to be a good friend."

"Yeah, he's cool. You're cool too." When they disappeared into Luca's room, Reese unpaused the movie.


	29. Visitation

**A bit of a shorter chapter for my dear sweet boy, Scout.**

**I really care about this character, he's gotten me closer to tears than any of the others. He's not my favorite, but I hope to flesh him out a bit more retroactively when I go back and edit after the next chapter. Gotta love fanfic, haha.**

**Anyway, I'm gonna shout myself out this week, if you haven't, go read Cascarones. TheSparklyKitten let me play with her OC Ari for her birthday and I'm really proud of that cute little Easter story.**

* * *

Scout was rocking back and forth on his feet, getting a pat-down. He didn't know why they thought that he would try to sneak something to the brother who had assaulted him but he got the pat-down anyway. He was the last in a line of crooks. He wasn't as smart as his parents or brother but you didn't have to be smart to smash a window, pull a knife on someone, kick a cat into traffic. He didn't have to be an evil genius to be evil. He could be his own brand of awful, and that scared him more than anything.

"You have an hour," the guard said, letting him sit across the glass from Andrew. Scout almost started crying. He'd only cried in private since the incident, over a week ago now. They'd all been affected, none of them were fully themselves yet. Reese and Luca put on a brave front at school but they both had been quieter at home and they were almost never apart. That at least gave Scout the option of alone time, hiding out in Luca's room until he had moved his stuff from his old house into the basement. It wasn't so bad, the basement. It was clean and comfortable. But it wasn't home yet.

"Andrew." Scout coughed into his arm. Andrew looked so tired. Defeated. Scout wanted to cry, tears stung at his eyes. He'd never seen his brother like this, his hair dirty and in disarray. His brother was a handsome man. He'd always been so pulled together, trying to set a good example for his little brother.

"How's your head?" Scout was taken aback.

"I fell hard," Scout said and then clarified, "you hit me hard. You permanently damaged my vision. I don't know if I'm going to be able to play football for a while. I might not get a football scholarship, I might not go to college because of you." His voice shook. He was trying his hardest not to break down, it hurt so much to put the blame on Andrew instead of on himself.

"I didn't go to college because of you!" Andrew roared. A guard moved towards him on his side of the glass, "Mr. Burks-"

"Stop!" Scout pleaded, "Stop, please. I want to talk to him." He almost said that he wanted to talk to his brother, but he couldn't spit those words out.

"Mr. Burks," the guard spoke directly to Scout, "if you behave erratically again your visit will be cut short."

Andrew gathered himself, his face melting from anger to a sympathetic, regretful expression that made Scout's stomach churn.

"Scoutie, it was a terrible mistake, hurting you like that. I'm sorry I impaired your vision, mine was impaired too. I was blinded by ambition, it was never my intent to clip your wings, I simply needed to spread mine."

"I don't want to hear any flowery excuses, Andrew." Scout was shaking, "I just want to know why you did it in plain English."

"I meant what I said, Scoutie-"

"Don't call me that."

"I meant what I said about not ending up like them! But they weren't wrong. They were on to something, something lucrative, something golden. I was going to make something great."

"My friends have told me what you made. What's lucrative about monsters, Andrew? No. I don't want that answer, I'm sure you don't have one. There's not a single good excuse you could make for hurting me and my friends."

"Why are you here, Scout, if you don't want excuses or an apology?"

"I want an apology! But I don't want an apology attached to all these excuses! Because you're not in the right, Andrew, and you're delusional to say otherwise."

"Why are you here?" Andrew repeated.

"I just wanted to look you in the eye and realize that you didn't love me. And you don't have to. Maybe one day I'll convince myself that I don't love you either but I'm not coming back until that's my reality. So if there's anything you need to say, say it now." Andrew looked at his brother, tears streaming down the teenager's face. Then Andrew stood and turned away.

Scout was sobbing as he returned to Wasabi, who ran to his side and pulled the boy into a hug.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, Scout, it's okay… It's going to be okay, Andrew can't hurt you anymore…" Wasabi knew that wasn't true, that his own mother had done much of her damage after Wasabi had moved out.

"I know he doesn't care about me," Scout sniffled, trying to slow his tears, "so why do I still care about him?"

"Oh, kid, I get it. I understand. It's not easy to let go of the people we think we're supposed to love, no matter how much they hurt us. My parents ruined my life when I was younger and I still sometimes think that I failed them, not the other way around."

"I'm going to stop loving him," Scout whispered, "this year, I think I'm gonna do it."

"Scout… It's not that easy. I wish it was, I really do. But it takes a long time and a lot of help."

"I have to!" The tears started up again, "Mr. Tomago if I can't distance myself from him then I'm going to end up just like them!"

"No, no, no, no… You're not going to end up like them. You're your own person, and you're so strong and amazing. I'm so proud of who you are, Scout. You're going to be great."

"How do you know? I'm the last in a line of criminals. I'm going to complete the cycle." Scout was close to hysterics.

"Scout, my wife and I come from rubbish families. I've been afraid of ending up the kind of parent my parents are all my life. Leiko knows this lesson even better than me. Her dad made serious mistakes, he was in and out of jail and struggled with alcoholism until his death. You can ask her more about it, but she spent a lot of her life worried that she would end up just like him. And you know what?"

"What?" Scout asked, calming down a bit.

"She didn't. I didn't. We turned out okay, despite everything. Scout, we're not the sum of our parts. We don't have to be like the people who hurt us. I know that you're going to turn out just fine. You're a very talented young man."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome. Are you ready to go home?"

"I'm not ready to call it home, sir. But I'm trying."

"I'm glad. We all care a lot about you. So let's head back, and try to make it home." Scout nodded, glancing back at the prison. He had moved out of his childhood home this past week, had left it behind, but leaving Andrew now, that was leaving home. That was much harder.


	30. Heathers

**Oops, it seemed like I dropped my big bag of Heathers the Musicals spoilers all over this chapter.**

**Also, this chapter goes all the way up to pg-13, I'd guess, because of Heathers the Musical. Kids, don't listen to it and don't read this chapter, teens, listen to it and read this chapter. You don't have to listen to it before you read this chapter, but there will be a lot of vague spoiler-y details about the musical.**

**Uh, there will be a page break at the approximate part where Heather's the musical spoilers end but you will miss some Zayne development if you skip to that part.**

**I'm not sorry lol this was so much fun to write and I love the musical it's based on.**

**Will I ever do a chapter like this again with other musicals? Maybe. Probably.**

**Also, don't forget that there's a hiatus after this chapter until I finish editing everything I've written so far so it's more coherent and better builds up to the Khary-Scout Arc.**

**Also, also, the Scout arc is far from over. *Evil Grin***

* * *

"You like a girl's musical?" Zayne asked.

"Heathers isn't just a girl's musical. It's an edgy musical about death and acceptance."

"The first song is called Beautiful. That sounds girly and dumb."

"Just listen to it with me," Luca said, "while we draw."

"Fine. But if it's dumb you owe me like, a soda or something."

"Fine. If you don't like Heathers then I'll buy you a soda at school tomorrow."

"Cool."

Zayne took the desk while Luca flopped down on his bed next to the desk with his sketchbook. Zayne had finally started in on the abstract painting and was determined to get it done today, having recently realized that he didn't need the painting as an excuse to come over, hang out, and even stay for dinner. His eyes boggled after the first 30 seconds of the first song.

"What is this musical?"

"I told you it was edgy."

"Is high school really gonna suck that much?"

"I don't know, we'll ask Scout next year."

"High school's not gonna suck for you," Zayne muttered.

"What was that?" Luca asked, sketching Zayne dressed in a Jason Dean approved trench coat.

"I'm just saying, you're a Heather."

"What? You haven't heard enough of this musical to know that that's not a good thing."

"Well I'm not saying you're gonna get kidnapped and photographed naked or that you're a mythic, you know, but you're one of the popular ones. You're untouchable. People like you. People care about you or whatever. You don't need to worry about getting lost in the crowd."

"I didn't know you felt that way about me. I know I have a lot of friends but I wouldn't say I'm untouchable. I'm only popular because I try to make friends. You're pretty popular too, Zayne."

"Nah. I'm only in because I hang around with you. Nova's my only other real friend."

"How did that uh, how did that happen, anyway?" Luca asked as Candy Store started. Zayne had to pause- stunned by the opening lines of the song- before he answered.

"My dad got hired to do odd jobs for Nova's dad. Their family is loaded. We started hanging out 'cause of that. They're really nice. I wasn't really expecting that. I wasn't expecting anyone else to like me."

"I'm glad you've got another good friend here. Nova does seem really cool. We've been friends for a while but I guess I haven't gotten to know them as much as I want to. And I try to make it my point to know as much about all my friends as I can."

"I bet," Zayne said as Fight for Me started, "that you know as much about Nova as you do about all of your other friends. You just want to know more about them, for some reason." Luca rolled his eyes, his face feeling a little warm.

"Oh, whatever. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't. Is this a love song?"

"Fight for Me? Kinda. But it's not the most lovey of the love songs. They're all a little twisted, though, in this musical."

"I kind of got that vibe. I don't actually hate it, though. I usually hate romantic songs in musicals. Then again, I think this is the first modern musical I've ever heard, like, ever."

"Really? Like you haven't heard Dear Evan Hansen or Hamilton, or anything?"

"Nah, just bullcrap from the fifties or whatever. What's this song?"

"Freeze your Brain. It's the one that makes me think of you."

"It's… Weird. I guess I do relate, to always moving around. But it's… It's so strange to be pinned down by a lyric like this."

"It's nice, sometimes, to know that someone else wrote the words you can use to describe yourself. That someone else, anyone else, gets you."

"I guess so."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"If you want…" Zayne paused from his painting.

"How do you build up your walls? How do you freeze your brain?"

Zayne winced when the song said, "When the voice in your head says, 'you're better off dead' don't open a vein, freeze your brain." He tried to focus on the answer to Luca's question.

"I… I don't know."

"I have a guess," Luca offered, the song switching to the much crazier Big Fun.

"So it was a loaded question." Zayne set down his paintbrush, crossing his arms and looking at Luca, not having big fun.

"A little bit."

"Was this whole musical thing a trap?"

"I wouldn't say it's a trap. But I did want to call you out on something. I really care about you as a friend, and I'm still going to be your friend no matter what, but sometimes you can say really mean things about people, and I might be wrong, but I think you do it because you think it would be easier if you didn't get close to people. Am I… Am I right about that?"

Zayne grunted, "I don't know, maybe a little bit. You know, I could just leave, right now. I don't have to come back, either. This is a breach of trust, Luca. I'm used to your little lectures but this is a personal attack-" Dead Girl Walking started but Zayne hardly noticed.

"I'm not trying to attack you, Zayne! I like you! You're one of my best friends! I just want you to know that you can get close to people. You don't have to shove people away. Nova and I both already see what's so great about you. Other people will too. You're not going to get lost in the crowd, I promise."

Zayne blinked, looking away, picking his paintbrush as a distraction, "Can you restart this song? I didn't hear any of it."

"Oh, sure, totally." Luca restarted the music and they didn't say anything else about freezing Zayne's brain, but Luca got the sense that they were okay. Zayne hadn't left and was only making remarks about how sexually charged the song was.

"That," Luca said with a laugh, "is the point of the song."

"This is a weird musical. Wait, what's happening right now?"

"They accidentally killed Heather Chandler so they're making it look like it was a suicide. Veronica is forging a suicide note. This is one of my favorite songs, actually."

"Why?"

"It's just so weird," Luca laughed.

"You can say that again. The line about the hand jobs being sung by, what was that, a policeman? That was super intentional."

"Oh, absolutely."

"This is so weird, man. Why'd you make me listen to a weird one?"

"I figure that if I start you out with a weird one it'll be much easier to get you into more normal musicals. Also, you haven't seen anything, on the weird scale. Blue is next. I… I apologize for Blue. Blue is way weirder. It's probably gonna make you uncomfortable. It always makes Reese a little uncomfortable."

Zayne braced himself for Blue, but he still couldn't help snorting in shock when the song started.

"Oh my gosh, Luca, why should I ever trust you to share a musical with me ever again?" Zayne wheezed, still stunned. He was doubled over laughing and couldn't breathe.

"None of the other musicals are this weird, or at least, weird in this way. This is the worst thing, I'm pretty sure, in any of the musicals I listen to."

"This is ear porn, Luca."

"Not really… Be quiet, the other big love song is coming up. This one…" Zayne sat quietly, listening to Our Love Is God while he painted, pointedly avoiding the color blue.

"He seems kinda manipulative," Zayne mumbled after a minute.

"You're on the money."

"Why is she calling those freaks who almost assaulted her?"

"You'll see."

"How many times have you listened to it?"

"Once with Uncle Khary, and then way too many times on my own or with Reese."

"Your Uncle showed you this? That's twisted."

"He kinda forgot we were 11. Mom and dad don't know the weird musicals he's listened to with us."

"I never pegged you as the hide-stuff-from-your-parents type."

"Then you don't see the me inside of me," Luca laughed.

"Are they gonna kill the creeps?"

"Just listen."

"Kinda weird that they're framing these guys as gay."

"The movie that this is based on is kinda old. Things were different back then."

"I did get gay vibes from the jocks, though."

"Wait until the next song. I think it's the next song."

"Oh, gosh, JD, don't say that you worship her after you killed two guys. This is really creepy, Luca."

"We can stop listening to it if you're uncomfortable."

"No, no, I need to hear the song in which Veronica comes out okay after all of this."

"So you're invested?" Luca asked as My Dead Gay Son started.

"I am invested in your weird musical. I always knew theatre was a cult. I can't believe you're part of this train wreck cult."

Luca laughed, "Did I tell you about the play I'm gonna be in?"

"Is it anything like this?"

"Not even a little bit. It's called Raisin in the Sun, it's kinda old, it's about race relations and trying to be more in the world than you were before."

"Huh. I'll come to see you in it."

"Thanks, I'd like that. I'm gonna get to act alongside my Uncle Khary."

"I think I'd like to meet him," Zayne commented.

"Maybe you'll get to."

"Are the jocks' dads gay for each other?"

"That is what the song said."

"Oh my gosh, Luca, what is this musical?"

Luca just laughed again, "It's crazy, I know."

They both worked on their art projects in silence for a bit as Seventeen played. Luca had started drawing something else, having moved on from Zayne as JD. He was drawing one of his favorite superheroes when Reese burst in.

"I can't believe you're listening to Heathers without me," Reese accused.

"I thought I told you that was what Zayne and I were going to do today. Besides, I thought you had homework to do." Luca didn't apologize.

"I can do that here. Let me grab it, pause it if Shine a Light starts before I get back."

"Okay." Luca briefly paused before the next song, and soon Reese was settled on the couch with her homework. Zayne felt a little awkward because he knew that Reese didn't like him even a little bit, but he tried to just focus on the musical.

"That teacher lady is nutso," Zayne said quietly.

"Is he going to talk through the rest of the musical?" Reese complained.

"Reese, Zayne's my guest. He's allowed to talk to me. If you don't like it, you and I can listen to Heather's some other time."

"Just be quiet for this next one. Lifeboat is my favorite song in the entire musical," Reese said, clearly not wanting to leave.

"Got it." Zayne exaggerated zipping his lips, and he earned the smallest of smiles from Reese. That made him feel a bit better, and he was excited to see why Lifeboat was her favorite. It soon became abundantly clear. Luca had been right about some words being able to describe how you are. That must have been this song for Reese the way Freeze Your Brain was for him. He couldn't help watching her face, her eyes closed as she took it in, and he saw her grimace empathetically as one of the Heathers sang her woes.

Then the musical took a sharp turn, "Is that Heather gonna kill herself?"

"She almost tries, but she's not the only one…"

"Who else?" Zayne was really getting invested now.

"Listen to this song." Kindergarten Boyfriend had started.

"I can't tell who's singing there are too many girls."

"It's Martha."

"Veronica's best friend?"

"Yeah."

"No! She can't kill herself-" Zayne realized he was getting worked up and clammed up. Reese was laughing quietly.

"Wow, Luca, I didn't think he'd be into this," she finally piped up, having been quiet for the last few songs.

"It's… Uh… Catchy." Zayne tried to make up excuses.

"You can just say that some of the songs are relatable, I get it," Reese said with a shrug.

"It's almost over," Luca said, surprising Zayne.

"What? It's almost over? It's only been a few minutes."

"It's been 52 minutes. It's only an hour and four," Luca said as Yo Girl started.

"There's no way that everything can get resolved nicely in 12 minutes. Jason Dean needs serious therapy."

"Just listen. You'll see how things turn out."

"You gotta give me a nicer musical to work with next time, no deaths, no suicides."

"Well, Dear Evan Hansen is out," Reese said.

"Reese, what do you recommend? I need something nice and pretty after this," Zayne pleaded as Meant to be Yours offered up a bomb threat.

"Uh, Waitress only has that one abusive husband thing."

"What is the deal with musicals?" Zayne exploded, clearly overwhelmed.

"Shrek the Musical is super safe," Luca said, "and we can watch it on Netflix after dinner. You're staying for dinner, right?"

"Oh, absolutely. Oh my gosh is Veronica dead?"

"Nope, faking."

"Okay, good, I was, I was seriously worried for her." Zayne caught his breath.

"Speaking of worried... Reese, have you talked to Scout today? I only really talked to him at school. He didn't want to listen to the musical with us or anything-" Luca started.

"Yeah, yeah, Scout's fine," Reese interrupted, "Now be quiet for the Dead Girl Walking reprise. It's the other best song in the musical." Luca was still worried about Scout but he shut up, and Zayne soon learned why JD was the way he was. He figured that he could listen to this song over and over again every day for the rest of his life because Reese was right. It was one of the best in the musical. Veronica's lines were just powerful.

Luca glanced at Zayne when the line, "I wish we'd met before, they convinced you life was war," came up, and their eyes met. Zayne's eyes quickly dropped back down to his almost completed project, but Luca didn't look away. He was so, so very glad his friend had stayed. Maybe he had been a bit forward, inviting Zayne over to listen to Heathers, but he thought that some good would come from it. He really, truly wished that he could help all of his friends like this, instead of seeing them self-destruct, like JD, at the end of the musical.

Zayne was very quiet as the Seventeen reprise finished up the musical. He didn't say anything for a few minutes after it was over.

"You okay, Shane?" Reese asked.

"It's Zayne," Zayne mumbled.

"Yeah, whatever, did the musical get to you?"

"More than I ever thought it would. Shrek the Musical has a happy ending, right?"

"Yes," Luca promised.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need that." Zayne let out a breath, "Whew. That was a rollercoaster."

"Yeah. Sorry to unleash all that on you," Luca said, "I hope you liked it, though."

"I did. I think I'm going to listen to it again. I also think that I'm going to skip Blue when I do."

"Good call," Reese agreed.

* * *

"You guys can stay here but I'm gonna go down and check on Scout. Is he in his room?" Luca asked his sister.

"He was in the living room, I think, playing Animal Crossing." Luca had never said it but he was a little disappointed that Scout had been calling on his childhood favorite game for comfort instead of hanging out and venting to him. Scout hadn't even wanted to draw with him any since he'd visited Andrew a week ago.

"Okay." The three of them trekked downstairs, Scout glancing up at them the moment they reached the stairs.

"Hey." Scout raised one hand in an acknowledging wave.

"Do you mind if we hang with you? I wouldn't want to interrupt your island getaway."

"No, no, I don't mind. Zayne, are you staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, and we're watching Shrek the Musical afterward."

"You might as well stay the night," Scout pointed out.

"Could I?" Zayne sounded relieved by the offer.

"Oh, yeah, totally. I mean, I haven't asked mom or dad yet, but I have a feeling they'd be down."

"Thanks. I don't like going home late… Dad doesn't like it."

"You can borrow some of my clothes," Luca assured.

"You should probably just start leaving outfits here," Scout advised, from experience.

"How do you always get away with just having people over?" Reese asked incredulously, knowing she would never understand her brother's insane popularity or the fact that he enjoyed having people over. Reese only really liked hanging out with Sara and Addison, and she'd only ever had the one sleepover.

"I don't know. Super lucky, I guess." Luca grinned, going off to call Wasabi while Zayne and Reese settled onto the couch to watch Scout parade his little avatar around his island, giving them a proper tour.

When Luca came back, he overheard the three discussing names for his baby brother.

"Don't forget," Reese reminded after shooting down the names Ansel and Sherb, "we're working with the middle name Elliott and we don't want to have a name that starts with a vowel because neither Luca or I have that. Also, the name can't start with an L or an R, and if I got my say, the name would be six letters long, but that part is much less important."

"Why six letters?" Zayne asked, not having heard this lecture before. Luca rolled his eyes, sitting next to them. He wasn't sure if they had talked baby names since the gender reveal, what with everything that had happened.

"Okay, well, all these rules are part of a trend. Obviously naming our little brother is very important so we want to make sure that we don't give him a name that clashes. I think it would be cool, though, if we could also follow a trend. Luca's name is four letters, mine is five, Baby Elliott's should be six."

"Why not three?" Scout asked, "Then it would descend with age." Zayne hadn't actually known that Reese was the oldest. He made a mental note of it.

"We talked about that when there was still a possibility of him being her, but we ran out of good guy names. We liked May for a girl, though."

"May's pretty," Zayne agreed, thoughtfully, "What about Sawyer?"

"I like Sawyer but I think we vetoed it, for some reason…" Luca crossed his arms.

"Because," Reese reminded, "the specific rule was that you weren't allowed to name our baby brother after anyone that I can recognize from a musical. So Sawyer is out, and Jeremy and Michael and Evan, et cetera. You can do that when you have kids."

"So Jason is also out?" Luca joked.

"Yes."

"Hmm. How about Skylar?" Luca asked.

"Look, I'm obviously the queen of gender-neutral names, and I like Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist as much as you, but we can't name our little brother Skylar. I feel like this is something we've already talked about.

"Todrick. It's not six letters, but it's unique," Zayne suggested.

"It's kind of from a musical," Reese said with a shrug.

"That doesn't count," Luca said, "It's unfair to count actors. But I don't know. I don't really like Todrick Elliot. Sorry, Zayne."

"No, it's okay. Uh… This is hard."

"Yeah, it is. Scout, you got any recommendations?"

"Brendon."

"Uh, maybe. Brendon Elliott, not bad."

"His initials would be BET," Zayne laughed.

"What about Victor? Like, Frankenstein?" Scout asked. His class was reading that right now.

"Victor Elliott isn't bad. I don't know. What's your avatar's name, Scout?"

"MockingJay. Had to put the ten character limit to use. I wanted MockingBird but that's 11 letters."

"Oh, like your name," Zayne caught on. "Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird?"

"Yeah, exactly," Scout grinned.

"That's kinda cool, man. You could've gone with Jem, though. Oh, that could be your brother's name, Jem."

"In the book," Reese schooled them all, "Jem is short for Jeremy, which is a vetoed name."

"Your rules are dumb," Zayne said, but there was no malice in his voice. This time, he wasn't trying to push people away.


	31. Kiss, Marry, Kill

**YOOOO I'm back queens (I say this because the only two people who review identify as women but hey, if you're a dude and you're reading you could comment and let me know :D)**

**I'm pretty happy with this chapter.**

**Like, what's not to like about unnecessary romantic drama and a baby Ace having to watch all of it in confusion?**

**Also, what's not to like about splitting the twins up? **

**:D :D :D**

**Sorry, I'm just really excited to be back, guys!**

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"It just figures," Sara said, groaning dramatically as she draped herself over Reese's side, staring past her out the window, "first day of our basketball retreat and it's pouring." The bus had pulled away from the school only a few minutes ago and they'd already gotten caught in a storm.

Reese loved to play pessimist too but she'd just finally gotten the go-ahead to play basketball since her Khary-related injuries and so she had to be an optimist about this.

"We have five hours of driving to do, Sara. It probably won't be raining when we get there."

"Okay, yeah, probably not. What do you want to do on the drive? I brought my phone and it has a whole bunch of Disney movies downloaded on there."

"Let's see what you've got. I don't like the super sappy stuff."

"Oh come on, neither do I, you know that. My favorite movies are the cool kickbutt ones where the heroine saves the day. Stuff like Mulan, Moana, or Brave. All the sap in those movies is palatable."

"You downloaded Brave?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's watch Brave. Should we get Addison-" Reese glanced a row back and saw that Addison was chatting away with their newest teammate.

"Ah, never mind. It probably would've been hard to watch with three people anyway." Reese felt a twinge of, well, not quite disappointment, but certainly confusion. If Addison was getting close to other girls, then, well, did their trio still stand? Obviously it wasn't the most important thing, but it still plagued Reese's mind as the bus rattled on.

They arrived at the hotel with enough time left in the evening to eat dinner and see the place where they'd be practicing for the rest of the weekend. Apparently the basketball retreat was an annual thing and Reese was completely and utterly thrilled. She'd loved her team in Berkeley but they'd never had anything like this. And, she hadn't had Sara and Addison back in Berkeley.

The room assignments were pretty standard, Reese was in a room with Addison and Sara as well as their newest teammate, Charlotte. Charlotte had moved here in January, she was part of the team as well as one of Luca's lackeys. Reese didn't have any positive or negative opinions about her, but maybe this trip was a chance to change that. Maybe it would be nice to have more friends. Maybe.

"After we eat and see the gym, why don't we hang out with the girls in the room next to us?" Addison suggested, gesturing at Bonnie, Laura Grace, Ilisa, and Harriet, who were at a table near them.

"Oh, okay, I guess," Reese said with a shrug, though she'd been thinking that it would be a good time for just the four of them to hang out. First Addison had been chatting it up with Charlotte on the bus and now she wanted to get to know the cool girls next door? When had Addison become so social? Had Addison always been this social?

Sara must have noticed that Reese was uncomfortable because she launched into a rant about English class as a perfectly timed distraction, allowing Reese to have time to eat and collect her thoughts. She was really happy to be here with her team, getting to bond with them and hone her skills. She was massively looking forward to playing basketball for real again and it seemed like everything was going well so far, but she couldn't help admitting that she missed her family, particularly Luca. He never would've been so awkward about hanging out with new people. Maybe he would've stolen the spotlight if he were here but Reese liked that about him. If people's eyes were on Luca they weren't on her and she could get some peace of mind.

She wasn't the only person who wanted Luca there, apparently. Some opinions became abundantly clear when Reese and her room had their neighbors over for some bonding.

"Let's play truth or dare," Addison suggested, like she had at the first sleepover she'd had with Reese.

"Oh my gosh, Addy, truth or dare is so babyish," Ilisa laughed. Addison blushed.

"I don't really like the nickname Addy," she said quietly.

"If truth or dare is so babyish then what do you want to play?" Reese asked, arms crossed, already done with Ilisa's attitude.

"Hmm…" Ilisa looked around, really thinking about it. Then a devious grin spread across her face, "Kiss, Marry, Kill. Laura Grace, you have to start. And it has to be someone you like, know in real life. It can't be some hot guy from tv."

"Fine, fine, okay, um… I would kiss Luca Tomago, I would marry, um… Assistant Coach Tyler and I would kill Tony Hertz."

"Ew, Laura Grace, Assistant Coach Tyler is like, old." Ilisa pretended to gag.

"He's only 26."

"That's twice your age though," Ilisa pointed out. Reese shifted uncomfortably for a different reason, but she kept her mouth shut this round. If they didn't remember that Luca was her brother she was not going to remind them.

Ilisa went next, "I'd kiss Duncan, marry Scout, and kill Angela."

"Isn't Scout your ex?" Laura Grace asked as they teased each other.

"He's not gonna be my ex for long." Reese still felt really uncomfortable. She wanted to bring up the fact that Scout had said himself that he was kind of done with relationships but she thought that that would be ill-advised, she had a feeling Ilisa already didn't like her. Which was fine, since she didn't much like Ilisa.

Reese didn't recognize any of the name's Harriet picked but she recognized Bonnie's pick for marriage, "I'd marry Zayne Owens."

"Oh my gosh," Reese burst out laughing, "wait until I tell him."

"Hey," Bonnie said, sounding hurt, "that's not really nice." Reese had to backpedal fast.

"Oh, no, sorry, sorry, Bonnie, you're super sweet, actually. It's just that Zayne thinks that nobody likes him when clearly at least one person does, that's why I was laughing. I won't tell him anything if you don't want me to."

"Thanks, Reese. Do you… Do you think he'd ever like someone like me?"

"I hope so, he's a real downer, I don't know, maybe someone like you would really make him happy."

"Reese," Ilisa commanded, "Kiss, marry, kill?"

"Uh, um… Kiss… No one and, um… Marry no one and… Kill that one girl from our rival school with the pink hair who always taunts me. I think her name is Alexis? Or Zack with a K. Either of them"

"Okay, Reese, you're like, no fun. You've got to have like, somebody you'd want to kiss." 

"I don't?"

"No one you'd want to marry?" Ilisa pressed.

"Not at all?"

"Not even, like, fictional?"

"Han Solo," Reese said instantly, "or, like, Michelangelo."

"The painter?" Bonnie seemed intrigued.

"The ninja turtle."

"Okay, um, I'm going to let that slide," Ilisa seemed weirded out, "Charlotte, you've been super quiet, who'd you want to kiss, marry, kill?"

"Oh! Uh… I'd kiss Grant, he's on the boys' basketball team, right? And, uh… I'd um… I'd…" She glanced at Addison and talked faster and quieter, "I'd marry Luca and I'd kill Nova." Reese felt even more uncomfortable with this newest revelation, but it got worse. Addison stood up, glaring at Charlotte.

"Oh my gosh, Char. I told you I liked Luca, I thought you were my friend. Whatever, I don't want to play this game anymore." Addison stormed out.

"Um… Sara? Kiss, marry, kill?" Ilisa clearly didn't want to address any of the drama, but Reese felt a pit forming in her stomach.

She barely heard Sara's replies.

"I'd kiss Scout, marry Reese, and kill…" Sara looked Charlotte dead in the eyes, "You. You made both of my best friends feel bad." Charlotte burst into tears and Reese slipped out quietly, going to find Addison, still feeling sick to her stomach.

She found Addison in the room with the pool, which they technically weren't supposed to visit without adult supervision. Addison had kicked her shoes off and was dangling her feet in the water, making waves in an otherwise vacant pool. Reese sat down next to her, letting her own feet dangle in the water.

"So… We probably should've played truth or dare, huh?" Addison sniffled and looked over at her.

"Maybe I am babyish, getting worked up at Charlotte like that."

"Sara practically bit her head off after you left."

"That sounds a lot like Sara," Addison admitted.

"I have a couple of questions, but I won't ask them if you're not ready to talk about anything."

"No, go ahead, I have a feeling I need to hear whatever you have to say. Friends listen to friends."

"Yeah, that's part of it. I'm your friend, or at least, I thought I was. Why didn't you tell me you had a crush on my brother?"

"I thought it would make you uncomfortable!"

"It kind of does. I've never really understood that kind of thing and so many people liking Luca, you know, like that, just baffles me. He's great but... I just don't get it. But I'm not going to be mad at you for having feelings for my brother that I don't have for anyone except Han Solo and a cartoon turtle. And I'm not exactly going to ask you to cater to my confusion. You're obviously allowed to like whoever you like. I would never ask you not to. I just wish you had told me, and I don't understand why you told Charlotte instead of me."

"I… I don't know why either, Reese. I didn't mean for it to seem like I was picking her over you or anything, you're one of my best friends. I just kind of wanted to make more friends. And I thought… I thought Charlotte would be a good friend to make since she's new and stuff. But maybe I was wrong. Or maybe Sara and I are being too harsh to her right now. I… I really don't know."

"I think you should apologize to her, both of you. Charlotte didn't do anything wrong either, really, I don't think it's a crime to like the same guy. Maybe she behaved a little shady but, like, you two just need to talk it out, I think?"

"Yeah, probably," Addison kicked the water.

"Even if you and Charlotte can't be friends anymore, you have to be teammates. There can't be any rifts in the team. You need to repair the damage that was done."

"Were you watching Brave again?"

"Yeah."

"You always talk like that whenever you watch Brave."

"Come on, Addison, I bet Sara has more movies downloaded on her phone."

"Sounds good. Hey, Reese?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Luca could ever like me back?"

"Uh, I think that's a question for Luca."

"Not if Charlotte gets to him first."

"Yeah," Reese hesitated, thinking about the person who'd actually caught Luca's eye, "Charlotte's totally the one you need to worry about…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Never mind. Let's just get back."

When they got back they found out that there had been a change in rooming arrangements. Sara was sitting on her bed with Bonnie, looking guilty.

"After I made Charlotte burst into tears we all thought it would be better if she stayed with the others. So Bonnie volunteered to swap with her. I… I feel really bad about what I said. Charlotte didn't deserve any of that."

"No, she didn't," Addison agreed with a sigh, "we'll apologize to her tomorrow if she'll listen. In the meantime, it's nice to have you staying with us, Bonnie."

"Thanks! Ilisa's kinda mean to me, anyway, so, well, it'll be nice for a change of pace."

"What do you guys want to do?" Reese said, looking around.

"I packed microwave popcorn," Bonnie commented, "and, uh, Addison? I don't think that truth or dare is babyish."

Addison smiled brightly, forgetting the earlier drama for the rest of the evening, ready to make things right in the morning.


	32. Audition

**Oh my gosh, you guys (hello Sparky and Sam!) I'm so excited, I have two new fics coming ASAP, one longer chaptered fic and one one-shot. Also, the next chapter will be focused on Scout.**

**Also, also, if you want to tell me you don't like a character or a choose I make in the fic, I am very happy to chat in my private messages, please message me. Leaving anon reviews about who you don't like makes me kind of nervous checking reviews on stories I write for this fandom :\**

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"You look different," Zayne commented as Luca slouched into the seat next to him, seeming perhaps a little more nervous than normal. Reese was on her basketball trip but there was clearly something else on his mind.

"Ah, what?" Luca seemed surprised by the statement.

"No, no, he's right," Nova agreed, staring long and hard at Luca's face before recognition lit up their face, "you're not wearing makeup, are you?"

"Ah, no, I'm not."

"Why not? Finally grow out of your girly phase?" Zayne teased. He could only really say stuff like that about Luca, Luca knew it wasn't out of meanness. Nova still kicked Zayne under the table though, as Nova was a prolific wearer of makeup themself.

Luca laughed, "As if, Zayne. I just recently perfected my eyeliner techniques, I'm not giving up now. And Nova's teaching me lip stuff next."

"Lip stuff?" Scout smirked.

"Like gloss, I think. Right?" Luca glanced towards Nova, who nodded.

"Maybe lipstick, if you're feeling it."

"So, why aren't you wearing makeup?" Zayne asked again, glancing at Scout who probably already knew the answer.

"Well, I have an audition after school. For the play my uncle is going to be in. He says I have the role in the bag, especially since we look so much alike and he'd be my father in the play if I got the part, but I'm still nervous, and it's like a super old play and so I thought I'd go with a natural look."

"That's probably smart," Zayne agreed, "and I know you'll nail the part."

"Scout, are you coming to the audition with me? You don't have to, you can go straight home if you want to, but-"

"I haven't decided yet," Scout interrupted, his mind a million miles away. People on the other end of the table were still talking about the winged creature that had terrorized San Fransokyo. Khary wasn't a monster anymore, but his actions still stood. And if there were really still sightings going on? No, no, it was an urban legend now. It was a myth. Still, he didn't have much of an appetite.

"You okay?" Luca asked, looking worriedly at his best friend.

"Am I… Yeah, no, sure. I just remembered some homework I have to print off, so I'm gonna head to the library before lunch ends. See you later, guys." Scout stood up and walked away and soon some other friend filled the spot that Scout had occupied but Luca was still worried about him.

The conversations continued, Zayne and Nova were talking about hanging out after school, The Hunters discussed which one of them was closer to getting a 5-star island. Someone was confessing to fanfiction they'd written as twelve-year-olds and someone else was trying to organize a small riot but Luca, for once, wasn't tuned in to any of it. His mind was deep in the role of Travis, which, actually, wasn't a very deep role. He had lines and he had purpose but he was more the stationary light at the end of the tunnel than the train roaring to meet it. The other characters in the play really drove the plot, he merely existed in it. Which was perfectly fine for his first play. If he got the role. If he mattered enough to be cast.

He knew he could do it, of course. He'd memorized the lines, practiced expressions in the mirror until Reese had kicked him out of their bathroom. He was as prepared as he possibly could be but he just didn't know if he could sell the role. He could talk in front of people, he could have hundreds of eyes on him, no sweat. But was he even good enough to earn it?

He knew that if Reese had been here, well, she wouldn't have comforted him, but he knew her thing. He knew that her belief was that if you could do something well you should just do it, it didn't matter what anyone else thought of you. It was most of the reason she was such a good basketball player, she didn't feel the weight of expectations when she was on the court. He didn't understand it at all. Even when he was doing what he was best at he was waiting for someone to take it away from him.

He glanced around at all of his friends at the table. There was Hunter 2, an accomplished dancer, there was Zayne, an amazing artist, Duncan, the person who'd been practicing lines with him based off of his own acting expertise, all his friends had something going for them. All of them were amazing, some of them doubted, some of them couldn't imagine anything other than total self-confidence. He was so unbelievably proud of them, he knew they could do amazing things. He didn't know why that was such a hard thing to believe about himself.

Like Scout, he left the table early. He went to his locker and opened it up, looking at all the little reminders he kept in there that things were going to be okay. He had an ultrasound of his little brother taped to the inside, along with several of the little notes that people had given him on Valentine's day, all the ones that had made him feel especially good about himself. He kept one other relic of Valentine's day in his locker, a squishy little teddy bear. He glanced around the hallway and took it out to squeeze it. It made him feel better, so he stuck it in his backpack. That way, there'd be at least someone at the audition who believed in him.

"Okay," Khary said when he got in the car, alone since Scout had decided to not come with them, "here's the deal. I can be in the room when you audition, or I can be out in the lobby. Whatever you're most comfortable with. I've been there before, sometimes you want someone there who knows you, sometimes it just adds stress. Whatever you want, buddy." That was a lot to process and Luca let out a breath he'd been holding.

"Uh, I don't know…"

"That's okay too, kiddo. You're going to kill it. If they like you, which of course they will, you'll get a callback for early next week and you'll read with anyone who's already been cast. Sound good?"

"Yeah."

"You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"You're going to crush it, Luca." He had memorized his rehearsal lines front and back. Why was this still so hard to do? He was glad to have Khary out of the room but he wished that Reese were here, cheering him on the way he cheered her on during basketball games. She'd be at the actual play, of course, which would run weekends in July, but he wanted her here, now. He didn't know what kind of stress she was dealing with at the moment herself, all he could do was focus on breakfast at the Younger's and getting through his lines.

"A little birdy told me that you crushed it in there, kiddo, you have the role for sure. How about we get ice cream to celebrate?"

"Thanks, Uncle Khary, but I want to get home to Scout. He seemed really upset."

"I never got the chance to apologize to him…" Khary sighed, looking guilty.

"It wasn't your fault," Luca said hastily.

"It wasn't my fault alone," Khary agreed, "but I still drove a wedge between me and my family, including Scout."

"Reese and Scout are going to come around," Luca promised.

"Thanks, buddy, but that doesn't absolve me of my crimes."

Luca sighed. Try as he might, he could not make everyone feel better.

Khary followed him to the doorstep, making sure Luca got inside okay, but before they could say goodbye, Scout appeared at the doorway.

"Khary, can I speak with you in private for a moment?"

"Of course," Khary said, waving Scout outside, "step into my office." Scout stepped out, leaving Luca alone in the house and in the dark.


	33. Home? Alone

**Hey! I know the title is Moving Too Fast and the pacing has been weird, but my plan for the coming chapters is kind of to stretch out the upcoming summer and explore a lot of things. I especially want to explore the family and friendship relationships of the kids, as well as a little bit about crushes, staying respectful to the fact that these guys are young teenagers. **

**I also have more for the Scout arc and a little more for Khary as well.**

**And of course, Baby Tomago. Don't worry, we'll meet him eventually. And I promise I'll reveal his name before he's born.**

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The house key weighed heavy in his hand. He still didn't feel comfortable living with the Tomagos. He really appreciated them opening their home to him but it had never felt earned. Everyday he felt like a screwup who would end up on the streets as soon everyone turned their backs on him.

When he faced the weight of the keys and headed inside he had a lot of options. There was downstairs, the basement, his first choice. There was also the gentle call of the unfinished nursery, he could pick up a paintbrush and set to work or rock in the rocking chair. Luca's room was always open, whether or not Luca was there. However, Scout landed on the couch, surveying the house from his back. It was split level, with an upstairs above the open kitchen/dining room and a dramatic lack of an upstairs if you were in the living room just a few feet away. He knew for a fact that if you climbed out a window in Luca's room you could sit on the roof and chill for a while, but there were benefits to hanging in the living room.

Though he'd been hesitant to go to Luca's audition because Khary was there, he knew at some point he had to talk to the man. It wasn't really for apologies and forgiveness, more than anything Scout wanted answers. Khary knew things about Andrew that Scout would never be privy to if he didn't buck up and face the monster. He knew that Khary wasn't a terrible person but he was still a person who did terrible things. Scout was afraid of him, was jealous of him, was morbidly curious about him. Khary Ginger occupied too much of Scout's mind and so Scout wanted to address it once and for all and be free.

Unless it wasn't freeing, unless something terrible happened because of it. Unless he was playing with fire and about to get burned, unless, unless, unless… His brother had created a monster, and he had the genius to create more. So, if there were other monsters, then Scout had to do something about it. If there were other monsters then he would track them down and make sure that they couldn't hurt anyone else the way that Andrew and Khary had hurt them. It felt like the only way that he could pay for the sins and the scandals of his family.

It really scared him. Before Luca had moved to San Fransokyo, Scout hadn't ever admitted his fears. That didn't stop spiders from making him feel like a character in Lord of the Rings who didn't make it, but it did make him seem like the kind of guy who could face down everything. A lot of people still thought of him that way, the other people on the football team and some of Luca's lackeys. But there were people who were starting to get to know him. People who saw past his fearless seeming exterior to an insecure artist who just wanted to be a good enough person. He didn't expect all of them to get it, though he knew some of them had families as bad or worse than his. He just appreciated that some people saw him as human. Humans could be vulnerable, could be sensitive, could be afraid of spiders. Could be afraid of their brother's twisted creation.

He still couldn't stop thinking of Andrew as his brother. He couldn't stop seeing Matilda and Joseph as his parents even though they hadn't been in his life for years now. Scout simply couldn't divorce the idea of his family from the reality of his situation. It seemed they took up every corner of his mind trying to get him to comply, trying to disfigure him into the prison bird he expected himself to become. He might be treated like a Tomago, but his place was behind bars like a Burks.

He studied the ceiling and kept waiting for the walls to accuse him. His dreams at night always felt like snapshots of reality, starting in the cozy basement, ending in a cold cell. His mind was in turmoil, intrusive thoughts like spiders laying eggs in his brain. He found himself panicking, his chest tight and his breathing sporadic. This was far from his first panic attack and he sat up and rode it out, praying that Luca didn't walk in on this. There were some vulnerabilities that he did not want to share.

Fortunately, his secret was safe a little longer. By the time he heard the jingling of keys he had managed to get his bearings. He stood, chest aching, and met them at the door. Within a minute, he had Khary outside for questioning.

"Scout, I'm sorry…" Khary started.

"I know you are. And, as much as I want to hear this apology, I have something serious to ask you."

"Yeah?" Khary shifted from foot to foot.

"Did he have any more experiments?"

Khary let out a sigh, "Scout-"

"Don't try to protect me from the truth about my brother. I know he's not a good person. I need to know the full scope of what he's done."

"There were others," Khary said, looking ashamed, "but I don't know who they were or where they are now. It's over, Scout. You don't have to worry about this." Scout nodded, but that was a lie. It was his to worry about. It was his responsibility to make sure that Andrew and his monsters didn't hurt anyone else.

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**Yes, Scout is afraid of spiders yes that will come up again but not in the same way OCs who are afraid of eels will have to deal with it and yes you should be lightly afraid of what Scout's gonna do about his brother's beasts.**


	34. Hanging out as friends

**Ahh! I hit a wall with creators block on a personal project so I decided to just jot down all of the ideas I had for Moving Too Fast and I am very excited to announce that I have chapters planned through Chapter 50! It will most likely continue after Chapter 50, or it might branch off into one or two spin-offs. Or there will be a significant time jump. We'll see. Probably it'll just continue after chapter 50. We'll see where things go!**

**To answer a few questions that honestly baffle me, Scout is not related to any BH6 members, though his parents used to work for Sycorax. The newest Tomago baby is a boy. As for "who the hell are all these characters" read every chapter and you'll find out :D**

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In Luca and Reese's mind, there was no doubt that Scout was part of the family. He already argued with Reese like a brother. They were arguing about Star Wars, specifically who the best Star Wars character was. Scout devotedly backed Anakin and Reese passionately supported Han Solo. They didn't care a lick about the fact that they had a guest, who was quietly keeping their vote for Kylo Ren to themself.

"Let's go upstairs," Luca suggested sheepishly, grabbing Nova's hand and heading towards the stairs.

"You never told me," Nova said, squeezing Luca's hand before they separated, "did you get the part?"

"Oh, yeah! You're looking at the newest Travis Younger."

"That's awesome, Luca. I can't wait to see you on stage."

"Well, you have your pick of opportunities. We're doing shows every weekend in July. I'll send you the schedule."

"Can I come to more than one?"

"Sure, my family is. I don't know why you'd want to, though. It's an old play, it's going to be the same thing every night."

"Yeah, but it's you. You're my friend and I want to support you." Nova smiled warmly at Luca, running a hand through their hair and lightly blushing when Luca smiled back.

"Thanks, Nova. Maybe don't come to every performance, but do what you want to do."

"How about the first and last?" Nova compromised.

"Sounds good. Now, are you going to show me how to do lipstick?"

"Sure. There's some stuff I want to try out." They sat together at the vanity desk, Legally Blonde the musical playing in Luca's head as Nova picked a shade and took Luca's face in their hands.

The argument had died down in the living room and Reese was sulking like a sore winner. Scout, despite losing the argument, felt bad for coming so close to fighting with Reese.

"Hey," he called. She ignored him, clicking through, Disney+ for something to watch.

"Hey, Reese." She glanced at him and clicked on High School Musical The Musical The Series.

"Reese, I'm sorry I said Anakin was better than Han Solo."

"And?"

"And?" Scout was confused.

"And you were wrong. Because he isn't."

"And I'm willing to admit that you present a convincing argument and in all the ways you listed Han does seem cooler than Anakin." Reese opened her mouth to argue and then closed it. That was close enough of a victory.

"I was wondering if you wanted to play Animal Crossing with me."

"I don't have Animal Crossing," Reese pointed out.

"Oh, yeah, I know. But you can make an account on my switch and have your own little house on my island."

"Oh, okay, cool. Thanks, I'd be willing to try it."

"And then we can run around the island together."

"Sounds fun." Scout grinned and passed her his switch, walking her through it. She created her avatar and gave herself the name QueenReese.

"That's perfect. If you let me pop over to my house real quick before we start playing together, I have something for you."

"Alright," Reese was intrigued, and she had to admit she was touched when he presented her with a crown.

"Thank you, Scout. You can be my Knight." She examined the tent she was required to place.

"Not much of a castle."

"Not yet. Let's get your miles up and you can pay off the tent. Then we can raid the money orchard for resources to pay off your first upgrade."

"Money Orchard?"

"You'll see. I… I'm really good at this game. It helps me get out of my head, so I have spent a lot of time making my island look pretty and earning, like, a lot of money…"

"That's pretty cool, Scout."

"You think so? Someone like you… I just didn't know this kind of thing would interest you."

"What do you mean someone like me?"

"You know, athletic, tough…"

"Scout, you play football."

"Yeah, but I'm not anywhere near as tough as you."

"You really think that?"

"Totally. I'm scared of a lot of things."

"But who isn't?"

"You?" He guessed.

Reese sighed and looked around, leaning closer and whispering, "I'm afraid of people."

Scout's eyes widened, "Whoa, seriously?"

"Don't make fun of me!"

"I'm not. There's nothing wrong with being afraid of people. People are weird and do bad stuff sometimes."

"Thank you! You get it."

"I'm afraid of spiders, among other things."

"So you can't be Spiderman, nothing wrong with that."

"Actually, I'd argue that being afraid of spiders makes me an even better candidate to be Spiderman."

"Oh, maybe if you were Spiderman your eyesight wouldn't be as bad."

"And I could play football again."

"Which do you like more, football or art?"

"Art. Which do you like more, basketball or soccer?"

"Basketball, obviously."

"Basketball or singing?" Scout prodded.

"I don't sing."

"Okay, Troy, you sing all the time. This morning you were singing Revolting children."

"Yeah, that's a good song…"

"Do you ever think you'd be in a musical?"

"I'm not like Luca, I can't get up in front of people like that."

"What's the difference between singing in front of people and playing basketball in front of people?"

"I'm good at basketball."

"You're good at singing."

"Thanks. Maybe. If it was a good enough musical, I might try out."

"Who would you want to play, more than anyone else?"

"Heather Chandler. If I'm gonna get up on stage I want to have fun with it."

"And your idea of fun is being an evil high schooler who gets murdered?"

"I'd settle with being an evil middle schooler who gets murdered."

"That's fair."

"Hey, Scout, do you want to do something kind of evil?"

"I've spent my whole life trying not to but what do you have in mind?"

"Let's go interrupt Luca and Nova's date."

"I think Luca is the only person in the whole world who doesn't realize that Nova's into him."

"Some of the girls who are into him don't realize it either."

"There are a lot of those?" Scout guessed as they climbed the stairs.

"Way too many."

"Anyone like you?"

"Way too many."

"It's okay, I'm not interested in a relationship with anyone right now either."

"Uncle Khary is like that. He's got to be really close to someone. But, just to warn you, Ilisa is still super duper into you and thinks you two will be getting back together."

"Fat chance. She's a pretty girl but she's kind of super mean."

"Bonnie said that. Oh my gosh, you'd love Bonnie, she's the nicest girl ever and she has a crush on Zayne. It's adorable."

"Did you… Did you just use his actual name? You always call him Shane."

"Don't you dare tell him anything I just said to you."

"My lips are zipped." They snuck up on Luca's door together, did a quiet countdown, and flung it open. Nova and Luca were shoulder to shoulder on his futon, watching nonbinary TikToks and humming Prom Queen.

"What's up?" Luca asked, glancing at the others.

"Just wanted to check on you guys. Make sure you weren't too bored without us," Scout teased.

"Come hang out," Luca suggested.

"Ah, nah," Reese said, "Scout's teaching me how to play Animal Crossing. Just checking in. You staying for dinner, Nova?"

"Not this time, don't want to stress your parents out with my veganism."

"That's probably for the best. I like your skirt," Reese complimented.

"Thank you!" Nova beamed, smoothing out the wrinkles on their floral skirt.

"Well, see you later, have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Reese teased.

"Sure." And with that, Scout and Reese shut the door and headed back downstairs together.

* * *

**Fun challenge: Watch a tiktok compilation for an identity you might not personally hold. Nonbinary tiktoks? Amazing. Trans tiktoks? Fantastic. Or watch a channel that covers that kind of stuff. Like jammiedodger! Very fun youtuber, would recommend. **


	35. I love Play Rehearsal

**The Premiere was awesome, guys!**

**Anyway, we're well on our way to summer! And with summer comes… Babies!**

**And… Bonding!**

**And… Monsters?**

* * *

Luca felt a little nauseous, showing up for play rehearsal the first time. He had gotten the part but he wasn't really fully prepared to assimilate into the cast, mostly full of people who had filled dozens of roles in the past. Khary wrapped an arm around him though, and coaxed him inside, promising that it would be fine.

"Okay, let's get your mind off of this, you're a bundle of nerves," Khary assessed, "here, I have someone I want you to meet." Khary directed Luca's attention over to a tall African American man, with dark skin and a shaved head.

"Luca, this is Dion Foster, my boyfriend. Dion, this is my nephew Luca." Dion beamed down at him.

"Of course he is! He's the spitting image of you, Khary. It's nice to meet you, young man. I've heard tons about you." Luca nodded and smiled up at Dion.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir."

"Dion is a high school drama teacher and he's playing George Murchison, he's fantastic."

"Aw, babe, I don't hold a candle to you, you're the star of this whole thing." Luca glanced away when Dion put a hand on Khary's shoulder and leaned down to kiss him. It seemed like a private moment between them, so he looked out into the theater. There were a couple of people milling about near the doors and one older black lady in a seat, probably one of the cast's parents or grandparents, Luca didn't think twice about it. When the director called them forward for rehearsal most of the people in the theater came up on stage, except for the older lady.

"Alright, this is our first play rehearsal. I know some of you are new to this and some of you have done a thousand plays but I expect the same effort from all of you. I know we have a talented bunch this year and I'm sure everyone is going to be bringing their A-game, but I don't want any slackers. How're we feeling?"

A chorus of a dozen or so voices cheered, "Good!"

Luca didn't really feel that way, but he lied it into reality with the rest of the cast, sticking close to Khary.

"Young man," it surprised Luca to realize the director was talking to him, "is this your first production?"

"Yes sir."

"You did well at the audition, I look forward to working with you. If you do well and enjoy it, I'm sure we'll be working together again."

"Yes sir, thank you, sir." Khary placed a hand on Luca's shoulder, smiling down at him with obvious pride.

'Khary! You could learn something about respect from your nephew."

"I'll keep that in mind." Khary squeezed Luca's shoulder and Luca felt a lot more comfortable. For this summer, these people were family too. They might not all be his friends yet but they would be soon. He just had to believe in himself and memorize his lines. Easy as pie.

He noticed Khary scan the auditorium and frown, going over to the older lady and telling her something. They seemed to have a slight disagreement before she left the theatre.

"What was that?" Luca asked.

"It's a closed rehearsal," Khary said, trying to seem nonchalant, "I asked her to leave. She didn't want to, but she did."

"That's weird," Luca said, immediately forgetting about it.

"You ready, kiddo?" Khary asked, grinning down at Luca.

"No," he admitted in a small voice, "this is really daunting."

"Deep breath," Khary instructed, "Luca Justus Tomago, you've got this, you're in control, you are capable, you are talented, you choose your destiny."

"Uncle Khary?"

"Yeah?"

"That's too many affirmations."

"Sorry. I listen to 'em during yoga, before that guy's awake," Khary nodded towards Dion, who was talking to the actress playing his girlfriend, a smile playing on his lips.

"Um, Mr. Foster seems nice."

"You can call him Dion. Maybe Uncle Dion one day." Luca raised an eyebrow at him and Khary laughed, "What? I think this time is real."

"I think you're right," Luca said, "he looks at you like you're his everything."

"Someone's gonna look at you like that someday if that's what you want."

"Maybe there's someone," Luca said, looking away, totally flustered, and shrugging.

"I need details," Khary said.

"Places!" The director called, sparing Luca the awkward musings of which of the people who stared at him like he was everything was the one he felt the same for if any at all. It was a hard decision to make when you were only in middle school and he knew he probably wasn't prepared for it. The thought of people liking him didn't freak him out the way it freaked out his sister but it was still a weighty concept that he knew should be taken seriously. So he kind of pretended that there weren't admirers, that there hadn't been confessions in the Valentines' notes he'd collected. He didn't want the responsibility of holding someone else's heart just yet. Right now, he just wanted to remember his lines.

The first rehearsal was kind of stressful, but when it was over Luca felt pretty good about himself. It was nice to be part of this kind of team, all working together towards the same goal. He understood, a little bit, why Reese liked sports so much. It felt good, and he was buzzing as he and Khary reached the house. Khary was coming over for dinner and to talk to his brother, who was going to teach him how to knit.

When Luca looked around the living room, his heart was full to bursting. There was his dad and Uncle Khary, tangled up in vibrant purple yarn, there was Scout and Reese, running around their little digital island. There was his mom, taking a rest for once, eyes closed and hand resting over her unborn son.

"Reese!" Luca called to his sister, who glanced up, "Travis?"

"It's from a play."

"Fine. How about Trevor."

"Trevor Elliot. Nah. I don't vibe with it."

"Oh, so you vibe with things now?" Luca teased his sister, who hit him with a throw pillow

"Nelson," Scout suggested, before also being hit by the throw pillow.

"Mason."

"That's five letters," Reese chastised, "we're shooting for 6."

"It doesn't have to be five letters," Luca argued, "Maison can be spelled with an I."

"I don't know," Reese said with a shrug, "we're probably only gonna have a baby brother once. I want this to be perfect." Wasabi smiled at his little perfectionist and stood up, nearly tripping on Khary's mess of a scarf start, and went to check on dinner. He waved his ever-expanding family over to the table, and for a moment everything was perfect.


	36. Crushed

**It's my Birthday so y'all get a MTF update. And you might get another one this week because I'm really vibing with the angst next chapter. Go read my Halloween stories, Halloween Party Panic and Harley and Ivy, I think they're pretty good!**

**Go read Stardust Angel!**

**Go drink some water, I know you're dehydrated.**

**Go drink some respect asexual juice, because it's Ace week and Reese is a baby Ace. And Luca is... *Checks the chapter I just wrote* Panicking.**

* * *

Luca's brain was far too full of study cards and test anxiety for matters of the heart, but per usual, the King of Middle School didn't actually get to decide what was going to happen with his subjects on any given day. And, one week and one day before the end of the semester, Luca had to answer for something he couldn't study for.

It was one of the rare days where Reese was sitting with Luca and his crew. Maybe she had sensed that a storm was coming, maybe she just felt comfortable when Luca's friends included Addison, Sara, and Scout. She was slowly warming up to the others, though she'd never learn all of their names and was probably never going to try. They were his team, not hers, and she was okay if they only intersected on occasion.

Sara sat next to her on one side, Scout on the other, Luca was walled in by Addison and Nova. Zayne had started caring about grades and was apparently stuck in the library for the rest of his life, or something. Reese knew he was coming over for the weekend so she wasn't too worried about him. Not that she'd ever admit being even a little bit concerned about that crazy kid.

She was concerned a little bit when Charlotte took a seat by Addison. Addison stood after a moment of sitting next to her teammate.

"I think I have to go print something off for my next class." She grabbed her backpack and left, which made Luca feel a little bit bad but he didn't really have time to dwell on it because Charlotte was already talking to him.

"Hey, Luca, can I ask you something?" Charlotte was in his math class, so he assumed this was about their upcoming final.

"Sure, what's up?"

Charlotte smiled warmly at him, brushing her caramel blond hair out of her face. She usually wore it tied back in a ponytail, but today it was noticeably loose and meticulously curled. Reese was super suspicious and Nova was visibly uncomfortable, though Luca didn't notice since he was focused on Charlotte.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a coffee date with me."

"Oh, I don't drink coffee, I'm thirteen, I'm not allowed."

Charlotte laughed like that was the funniest thing in the world, "Oh it doesn't have to be coffee, cutie, we could go see a movie or get ice cream or whatever you're most comfortable with."

Just a foot away, what Nova was most comfortable with was resting their head on the gross cafeteria table and trying to look like they weren't listening.

"Sure- wait, like a date, date?"

"Yeah, that's what date means. What do you say, Luca?"

"Maybe. I need to think about it. But I really appreciate the offer and I'll try to let you know tomorrow or Monday at the latest…"

"Perfect," Charlotte reached over and squeezed his shoulder, and Reese and Sara got up to check on their friend.

Luca turned and his brow furrowed when he saw Nova with their head down on the table. He didn't notice Charlotte flounce away.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just have a headache."

"I have Tylenol in my backpack, you want one?"

"No thanks," Nova said, "I probably just need to drink more water."

"Is Tylenol not vegan?" Luca asked apologetically, "I'm still learning."

"Some Tylenol is vegan. I know what I can and can't use. But I appreciate that you're taking the time to learn."

"Of course. I can't commit to changing my entire life to be vegan like you but I can still do what I can to make you comfortable." Nova had perked up a little at that.

"Thank you, Luca. You mean a lot to me. I mean, that means a lot to me. Uh…" Nova blushed and looked away, and Luca smiled to himself, feeling secure.

And then he and Scout and Reese were on the way home and Luca suddenly got very, very overwhelmed.

"What the heck did I do," he asked Scout, eyes wide.

"Could you be more specific?" Scout asked gently.

"Did I just get asked out?"

"Yes."

"By Charlotte? And I said maybe?"

"Yes, and yes," Scout said.

"Is that why Nova had a headache? Is that why Addison and Resse and Sara left?"

"Obviously," Reese said with an eye roll.

"Oh my gosh! I don't know what I'm doing! I don't date people!"

"Do you want to?" Scout asked. He didn't want to and Reese didn't want to but maybe Luca would be the odd one out. He was the more outgoing of the three.

"Yes! But I don't… Do I want to date Charlotte? Do I want to start dating now?"

"Is there someone else you want to date?" Reese asked, smirking at her brother.

Luca's brain stopped functioning, a little spinning loading wheel taking off.

"You broke him," Scout accused.

"Poor Luca. Not ready to face the truth." Reese waved her hand in front of Luca's face. Luca was spaced out for a little longer before he was brought back to reality.

"You okay, bud?" Scout asked, nudging him a little.

"I'm fine. Just have a lot to think about."

"You don't have to go out with her if you don't want to," Reese said wisely, "you don't owe her anything. You don't owe anyone anything about yourself, your time, your attraction, your friendship. You already give so much, Luca. I don't want to see you giving more than you feel comfortable with."

Luca blinked, feeling overwhelmed. He wrapped his arms around Reese, who hugged back. He didn't know he'd needed to hear that, but he was grateful for his sister.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell her yet. Maybe I just should have said no. I don't… I don't have a type? So I don't know if she's my type because I don't think I have a type? But I've been attracted to people before…" Luca ran his hands through his hair, looking stressed.

"You have? What? Who? You've had crushes before? How did I not know that?" Reese seemed shocked.

"Because you generally assume that most people aren't interested in relationships."

"Oh yeah. Well, tell me who your crushes are!"

"Just people from Berkeley."

"No one here?" Scout asked.

"I don't know! I don't want to think about this! I plead the fifth."

"We should let up on him," Scout said to Reese, "Innocent until proven guilty."

"Oh look! We're almost home!" Luca was losing his mind.

"I want to know who you had a crush on in Berkeley. Was it someone I know?"

"Piper!" Luca blurted, just wanting this to be over. He was mortified.

"Wait, Piper? I could've been shipping you with Piper? Your ship name would've been Liper! Like from Percy Jackson!"

"I thought the ship was Jasper," Scout mumbled.

"No, it was Brason," Luca corrected, ignoring his sister's shipping comments. He knew she was just teasing him now.

"Did you seriously have a crush on Piper Mraz?" Reese asked, no longer teasing as they headed into the house.

"Yeah."

"Did you not realize that she had the biggest crush on you?"

"Are you serious?" Luca looked between Scout and Reese, mouth hanging open, "How many people have a crush on me that I don't know about?"

"So many," Scout said.

"Too many," Reese corrected. Luca crashed down onto the couch, brain broken, thinking about everything.

"Who-"

"Not our place to say," Scout quickly interjected, and Luca fell quiet again.

When Wasabi came home, Luca was still on the couch overthinking romance while Scout and Reese played Animal Crossing on the tv. Wasabi picked up on Luca's distress immediately.

"Hey, bud, what's wrong?"

"It's been a day," Luca muttered, and Reese scootched over so that Wasabi could take the seat next to his son.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"Dad? Am I handsome?"

"What? Yeah, if that's what you want to be. You're the spitting image of your uncle." Luca smiled and nodded.

"Yeah… Well um… Apparently…" Luca looked embarrassed.

"Luca's got a harem," Reese piped up.

"Reese Renee!" Wasabi was shocked, "That's not appropriate."

Reese snickered, "Sorry, dad."

"Now, Luca, what's your sister talking about?"

"I got asked out today," Luca blurted, "and she seems like a nice girl but, like, I don't really… I don't really want to go out with her and I said maybe and so she probably expects yes and I have to tell her no like tomorrow and I don't know what to do and apparently she's like only one of several people who have crushes on me and I just don't know how I didn't know about any of this."

Wasabi's eyes widened as he took in all the information, keeping a comforting arm around his son's shoulders as Luca word-vomited his problems.

"You're going to have to admit that you don't like her eventually, but for now, if it makes you feel better, just tell her that your dad said you weren't allowed to date until high school. That goes for you too, Reese."

Reese slumped dramatically down off of the sofa, "Oh no, I can't date until high school? Whatever shall I do?" And Scout snorted at her theatrics.

Luca took a deep breath.

"Thanks, dad. I will." He wasn't looking forward to having that conversation, but he was more curious about who the other people with crushes on him were. He figured he would probably never know.


	37. I Will Sing No Requiem

**I thought it would be fun to do another chapter around a musical! Except I didn't really do that for more than five songs because our favorite sad boys had to have too many emotions. Enjoy!**

* * *

"What're you guys working on?" Reese asked, glancing in Luca's room.

"Zayne and I are working on our art final and Scout is just hanging out."

"I'm graduating from middle school. My finals are already done. I'm going to school just because I'm a beautiful person and people want to see me." Reese gave Scout a fistbump, hoping his powers of being finished with middle school would transfer over to her through the fist bump. There was a reason there was a series called Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life.

"Are you listening to anything?"

"Of course! Today Zayne is going to be introduced to Dear Evan Hansen."

"Neato, I'm sleeping over at Addison's house tonight, but you boys have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"We can do so much stuff," Zayne said quietly, and Luca burst out laughing. When Reese was gone, Zayne turned to his friend.

"Is Addison the one who asked you out?"

"No, that was Charlotte."

"How'd she take your rejection?"

"She was upset, but I think she understood. I just hope she doesn't ask me out again in high school…"

"Why don't you like this chick? She's cute."

"Yeah. But she's not the right person for me. I don't know how to tell her that…"

"Yeah? You have your eye on some other person?"

"He's not going to tell you, Zayne. Reese and I have already tried and his brain short-circuited. Let's just turn on the musical." They'd gotten into a bit of a groove since Heathers, having listened to Hamilton, Be More Chill, and Beetlejuice. Now they'd finally made it to Dear Evan Hansen. Luca was radiating excitement.

"I didn't expect that the guitar would go so hard on the first song," Zayne commented.

"This musical is lovely," Luca agreed, "Lovely, but heartbreaking." As he and Zayne began to work on their final art project, Scout opened a sketchbook of his own and began to doodle.

"Wait, who's Connor?"

"Connor goes to school with Evan. He'll be important in a moment. And both of the moms are important. And Zoey."

"Why can't we just watch these musicals?"

"You get to experience them the way I did. Now shush up and listen to what most people think is the best song in the musical."

"Is it the best song in the musical?"

"No, but shush." Waving Through a Window started and Zayne fell silent, mystified. Zayne's hand trembled on his pencil as he outlined and listened to the first chords of brokenness this lovely but heartbreaking musical had to offer. The violins absolutely obliterated Zayne and he sat, holding his pencil, thinking about quieter, better times when his father used to come home and play the piano instead of yell until Zayne was cowering in the corner. And Scout was thinking of better times too, both knowing that Luca couldn't exactly understand the full weight of that brokenness, and couldn't understand being that kind of invisible when Luca was always so seen and so loved.

And then For Forever started and Zayne just felt worse. A quick word from Luca explained that this gentle guitar fantasy was just that, a fantasy. Evan didn't have that kind of friend, and for a long time, Zayne hadn't had anyone either. As the song picked up, Zayne couldn't help but wonder if the better times were better. His dad was a disaster now, but he had a friend, he had someone who would notice if he was gone. Zayne was incredibly grateful that he had people who would notice if he was gone. Luca and Nova had been really good friends to him, and Scout at least was kind and acted like his friend, though they'd never really talked one on one. Zayne could actually believe that these relationships would last for forever.

Zayne was slapped in the face by Sincerely, Me. He was laughing for most of the song, but he had to admit that it was actually kind of uplifting if you got past all of the ridiculous lyrics.

The real problem started with Requiem. It was nearly impossible to tell if Scout had actually been listening to the musical before Requiem but he was listening now. Scout's face contorted into a frown and he closed his sketchbook. Zayne picked up on it faster than Luca.

"You okay, man?"

Now Luca looked up, "What's wrong, Scout?"

"Turn it off."

"But this is my favorite song," Luca protested.

"How could you like this sad crap?" Scout scowled.

"Hey, seriously, what's going on?"Luca seemed very worried now.

"I just don't want to listen to this song!" Scout was kind of bouncing on his feet, fists clenched. Zayne thought he was going to start swinging.

"You don't have to listen! But I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong-"

"You can't help me, Luca! You're never going to be able to help me because you're never going to be able to understand! Play your dumb sad musical, I'm getting some air." Scout shoved the window open like he was quite accustomed to doing so and clambered out onto the roof.

Luca stood there, mouth hanging open, staring at the window as If I Could Tell Her started to play.

"I'll go talk to him," Zayne said, waving away Luca's concern.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Better idea than you talking to him right now. I'll be back in a bit, don't worry about it." And with that, Zayne climbed out onto the roof, trying his hardest not to look down.

"Just warning you," Zayne said as he plopped down next to Scout, "I have a slight problem with heights and I might throw up."

"Then why are you out here?"

"Because I think we're friends and you seemed like you needed a friend right now."

"You sound like Luca," Scout snorted, clearly still frustrated with the younger teen.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry. Pretend I didn't say that. Just uh, tell me what's on your mind?"

"That song Luca was playing gets under my skin."

"Requiem?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I don't know! I guess… I guess it just feels so… Familiar."

"Sucky family?" Zayne guessed.

"Sucky family," Scout agreed, and they shared a dismal fist bump.

"I don't want to be some tragic ballad in a musical. It's not that easy, y'know? My entire identity isn't some line on a playbill."

"I didn't understand all the theatre lingo but I get it. Luca has this way of boiling down people's problems into this simple, fixable sauce."

"Sauce?"

"I was stuck on the boiling metaphor."

"You boil a lot of sauces, huh?" Scout teased.

"Shut up, I'm going to lose my sauce soon. I'm just trying to be nice, Scout. Ignore that I can't talk feelings. Feelings are complicated, and even songs about feelings being complicated can make those feelings seem oversimplified or understated. So sometimes it sucks when Luca thinks he gets you because of some sappy song. Is that it?"

Scout gaped at Zayne.

"That's exactly it. It's not his fault, but he doesn't get it."

"Do you want to talk about what Luca doesn't understand?"

Scout thought about Andrew, about all the times his family had hurt him by being themselves.

"No."

"Good, me neither. But I'll be around if that changes. Now I'm going to get off of this roof one way or another before I pass out. Are you coming?"

"I want to stay out here a bit longer." Scout had denied Zayne's offer to talk, but it soon became apparent that he was destined to have the bad family conversation. Fortunately, the weather was perfect for company.

* * *

**Who do you think is hanging out to talk to Scout?**


End file.
